The Saddle's Waiting Come and Jump On It
by StraniqueGirl0684
Summary: After a surprising break-up, Blossom's friends make sure she gets out of her apartment to have some fun. And boy, did she have more fun than she bargained for! REDS fic. Slight Magic Mike AU. Powerless AU.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello there! Well, now that I've done pieces for the Greens and Blues, it only seemed fair to do one for the Reds too! This one is going to be a two-shot, so keep an eye out for the second chapter, if you're at all interested!**

 **A couple of important things to note: this is a powerless AU, so the girls wouldn't have faced all of their villains from the show. Another is that this is also loosely inspired by the movie Magic Mike - mostly because the title and the music the boys we all know and love dance to is the song "Pony" by Ginuwine which is used in the film. And there's a few little Easter eggs that refer to that too.**

 **This story is also rated M, but it is a relatively low M. There are references to sex and plenty of foul language, but there is no outright citrus to be found here!**

 **So none of the CN characters nor the song nor the themes from Magic Mike belong to me! This is just for fun, and I hope you all enjoy!**

 **Without further adieu, onto the story! Feel free to let me know what you think!**

* * *

As Blossom Utonium stirred awake, she became acutely aware of two things:

One, her head pounded, keeping her from willingly opening her eyes all the way. Alcohol was an even crueler mistress than she expected. How did people drink heavily on a regular basis if the aftermath led to this horrific feeling?

However, the second and arguably more concerning thing she noted was that, though she was in her own bed, she was definitely not alone.

With a gulp, Blossom decided to peer over at the warm body next to her and saw a half naked torso of the undeniably attractive redheaded dancer named Brick. Somehow the bed-head made him even sexier, and she took that as her cue to extricate herself from his grip around her waist.

Once she left the room, panic and shame hit her like a freight train. How could she let this happen?! Blossom had only met the man a week ago and had already fallen into bed with him? She was so not that girl! Previously, any sexual relations had taken place with her significant others, of which there had only been two.

Blossom's jaw clenched. In all fairness, it was the second of those two that was a contributing factor to the situation she found herself in now. While she made her own choices and that could not be denied, the horrific crash and burn ending of her previous relationship had been the impetus for meeting Brick in the first place!

Otherwise, there was no way their paths would have crossed. At least…not in the same context. And she definitely would have been able to hold back the primal instincts that had taken over if she had met him anywhere other than the establishment where he worked.

A club. A strip club. With male strippers. Of which Brick was one.

How the hell had she let herself get talked into going there in the first place again?

* * *

After arguably the worst day of her life thus far, Blossom found her room invaded with her three best friends, two of whom happened to be her sisters. However, the real ring leader of the entire infiltration had been Robin who showed up with a tub of ice cream the size of Montana in hand and a wistful expression.

The girls had filed in, served the ice cream, and sat on the couch for only a moment before Robin grabbed Blossom's hand.

"Tell me everything."

Much to Blossom's dismay, this simple gesture and phrase opened her floodgates once more. Ugly, choking sobs clawed out of her throat as she explained to her girlfriends how her boyfriend Dexter had broken up with her after almost three full years together. While that would have been bad enough, the boy genius added insult to injury by letting her know for the majority of their relationship he had also been seeing someone else. Only now was he sure which of them he truly "loved."

And it hadn't been Blossom.

Buttercup's face contorted in rage. "That fucking little weasel! I knew he was a pretentious douche, but this is on an entirely different level! Where the hell does that prick live?! I'll teach him to fuck with my family!"

"BC, calm down," Bubbles whispered. During the worst of the crying, Bubbles took Blossom's other hand, rubbing soothing circles on the back of it. "We're here for Blossy. She'll let you know if she needs you to skin the bastard alive." The end of that thought held a hard edge in her usually sweet-tempered sister's voice.

"I-I just feel so s-stupid," Blossom choked out. "Dexter n-never had been particularly affectionate, b-but I always thought it was b-because he was a man of s-science. N-not because he d-didn't l-love m-me."

As the ugly sobs started up again, Bubbles wrapped her arms around Blossom, cradling her like an infant. Robin and Buttercup shared a look that didn't bode well for Dexter's wellbeing, but Blossom wasn't sure she could bring herself to care how he fared.

Robin locked her blue eyes on Blossom's face with a small smile. "I know it's hard to see now, Bloss, but you deserve a thousand times better than that douchecanoe with the tiny dick."

"What? Who said anything about that?!"

The brunette shrugged. "It's not hard to figure out. Dude was obviously compensating for something."

"Robin!" Bubbles cried. "This is _so not_ the time!"

"Funny. I don't hear her denying it. Do you, BC?" Robin turned her gaze to Blossom's obsidian haired sister whose face transitioned into a devilish grin.

"Why, no, Robin. I don't." Buttercup's lime eyes flashed dangerously. "He shall henceforth be referred to only as 'Pencildick.' That sound about right, Bloss? Or is 'Chodey McChoderson' more appropriate?"

Blossom simply stared at her sister with wide eyes. Was there even an appropriate response to that?!

Bubbles sighed. "Honestly, BC! What does that second one even mean?"

"Well, you see, Bubs, a chode is a dick that is short as fuck but fat as hell."

The blonde blushed. "Oh my God, ew! I don't want to know which of those names is more accurate, thank you very much! Blossy, if you want, I will tell both of these perverts to leave since obviously the only way they want to help make you feel better is by insulting your new, fresh, probably still painful ex."

The redhead let out a watery laugh. "No, it's fine, Bubbles. Thank you for the concern though. I…really appreciate it."

From behind Bubbles' line of vision Buttercup held up two fingers, a question mark on her face. Not wanting to upset Bubbles by sharing gory details, Blossom nodded to her dark haired sister to confirm that, yes, the second name would be the more accurate insulting nickname. The look of sheer disgust on Buttercup's face made her feel infinitely worse and better all at once.

Break-ups were such messy business.

"You know what I think you need?" Robin suggested, standing from the couch. "You need a girls' night out!"

"Don't you think it's a little soon to be asking her to do that?" Bubbles asked, a thinly veiled threat lining her voice.

Robin shook her head. "Bubbles, she hasn't gone out with us since I turned 21. And that was _four months_ ago. And _why_ couldn't she go out with us?"

"Because Chodey McChoderson told her it would be irresponsible and guilted her into hanging out with his lame ass instead," Buttercup replied.

This was quickly getting out of hand, and Blossom knew she should put the kibosh on the whole thing, but the girls were right. She hadn't gone out with them in months, and for what? Blossom always kept her head while she went out and made sure her work was done beforehand. She never went out on a school night, so there was no reason she shouldn't have gone out before! And now, with no one to make her feel bad for doing so, why not go now?

She found Bubbles blue eyes which were filled with such loving concern that Blossom felt her broken heart mend just a little bit more. The blonde clearly wanted her to heal in whatever way would be best. This was only made more obvious by her question.

"What do you say, Blossy? We'll do whatever you want to."

Forcing a smile, Blossom nodded. "I think a night out sounds like exactly what I need."

"If you're sure…"

"Come on, Bubbles, of course she's sure! Besides, she needs your help to pick out an outfit. Because I know exactly where we're going," Robin said with a grin.

Bubbles eyes shone at the thought of getting to dress Blossom up. The redhead internally sighed. She really didn't want to go out showing too much skin so soon after this, so she hoped her blonde sister would keep it tasteful. But honestly, how could she deny her sister this small joy in trying to help her feel better?

"I will be back with outfits for all of you!" Bubbles squealed. "We're going to make this the best night out Blossy has ever had!" She got halfway to the door before pausing. "Wait, Robbie, where are we going?"

"Just this new club in town. _Xceptional._ "

"Dance clothes it is!"

Buttercup snorted. "I don't think so, Bubs. This isn't the type of club where we're going to be the ones dancing." She shot a look at Robin. "You really think this is the best idea?"

Robin waved off her concerns. "She deserves it. Lord knows the guys are bound to be better looking than Dex-Chodey McChoderson."

With furrowed brows, Bubbles glanced between Buttercup and Robin. "I don't get it. A club with no dancing? What fun is that?"

"Oh, there's dancing!" Robin insisted. "It's just the men that do it. On a stage."

Oh no. Absolutely not. This was Robin's idea of an appropriate girls' night out the day after her break-up? "Robin, I don't want to go to a strip club!"

A gasp escaped the short blonde, blue eyes glittering with ill-concealed excitement. As an artist, Bubbles often waxed poetic about the beauty of the human body, but her preferences for the male form were always made abundantly clear. "There's a club like that in Townsville? Oh goodness! I know just what to get now! Be right back!"

Before Blossom could protest further, she darted out the door and down the hall. The redhead sat there, heart sinking with dread about the direction this night was rapidly taking.

"Don't worry, Bloss. I've heard really good things about this place!"

"From who?" Blossom inquired, quirking a brow.

Buttercup snorted again. "This wouldn't have anything to do with that guy you were flirting with at the coffee shop the other day, would it?"

From the immediate coloring of her cheeks, Blossom knew Buttercup's remark struck an accurate chord with Robin. "What guy?"

Robin laughed, but the sound was forced. "What guy is right! I have no idea what you're talking about, BC. You crazy girl!" More fake laughter.

"Bloss, you remember Mike Believe, right?"

Blossom nodded slowly. "Sure. He went to school with us for years. I think he also goes to Townsville University with us if I'm not mistaken. Why?"

"Well, apparently, he's gotten really hot since high school. I found this out when Robin decided to ignore me the entire time we were having lunch together at the hole-in-the-wall café he works at." Buttercup rolled her eyes. "I heard him mention having a bartending gig too, but I really tried to block out most of the nauseating flirting that was going on. Her giggling put Bubbles to shame."

At this point, Robin looked like she wanted to disappear into the floor. "I would have told you about it, Blossy, but it only happened a few days ago. And the first time I talked to you since was…well, about this. It didn't seem like the right time to tell you, so thanks for that, BC."

"Just doin' my job. Besides, if you're dragging the girl to a strip club, she deserves to be well aware that your ass is going to be planted at the bar, not watching the dancers."

"I'll watch the dancers too!" Robin insisted. As an afterthought, she murmured, "From the bar. I can probably still see them just fine."

"Which means you're leaving me to babysit Bubbles. Fan-fucking-tastic."

"Oh stop. She doesn't need babysitting. She's a grown woman!"

Buttercup scoffed. "Bubbles tends to have a hard time following the 'look, don't touch' policy when it comes to things she deems 'art.' So, unless it's a bunch of fat fucks, someone needs to make sure we don't get charged with sexual harassment." Then, her lime green eyes narrowed. "And if it _is_ a bunch of fat fucks, I'm never going to forgive you for making me see things I will never be able to unsee."

"Maybe this is a bad idea." The more Blossom thought about it, the more horrific the idea seemed. She had agreed to go out, thinking they would go have a drink at one of the small bars nearby. This hadn't been what she had in mind when she said yes! "Maybe we should just stay here."

Robin immediately deflated. "Do you really not want to go?"

"I don't know why you would think Blossom of all people would want to go," Buttercup muttered.

Blossom stiffened. "And what, exactly, is that supposed to mean?"

"It means it's not really your scene, Bloss. Seeing a bunch of almost naked men thrust in your general direction doesn't sound like your idea of a good time." Buttercup shrugged. "I think it would be good for you to see some sexy men dancing to remind you that there is way better shit out there, but if you're going to be uncomfortable it won't be fun for anybody. Bubbles and Robin will feel all guilty, and then you'll start apologizing for having an opinion for yourself, and it will become a big tear fest. So I want you to be sure that you're not going to turn tail the second we walk in the place."

Frowning, Blossom considered this. Buttercup had a point. Any other day, she never would have considered going along with this. Blossom knew the type of music and general aesthetic of these establishments held little to no appeal for her.

But maybe this is exactly what she needed. The overwhelmingly negative shock to the system she received from Dexter had her feeling lower than she ever had before. She squared her shoulders. This wasn't what she wanted to be reduced to! Yes, Dexter had broken her heart. But she would be damned before she let him take her pride too.

Blossom was going to enjoy this night if it killed her. Cheating exes be damned.

"We're going." Her pink eyes darted over to Robin. "Did you get ones? Those are customary to bring to these types of places, right?"

Robin's blue eyes widened before a big grin took over her face. "Really?! Oh, Bloss, you are the best!" The brunette squeezed her tightly. "And I got tons!"

With a chuckle, Buttercup ruffled Blossom's hair as she walked by, causing the redhead to scowl. "There's the Leader Girl persona we all know and love. You had me worried there for a minute."

"No worries necessary. I'm going to have a fun night with my friends, and there's no one to make me feel bad for wanting to do so."

"Damn right!"

The door opened then, revealing a pile of clothes draped over the arms of Bubbles whose smile only brightened further seeing that Blossom's tears had subsided. "I have everything we'll need!"

"Of course you do." Buttercup shook her head. "If you think for one second I'm wearing a skirt, you've got another thing coming."

Bubbles giggled. "Don't be silly, BC. I know better than that." Unceremoniously, she dumped the pile of clothes onto Blossom's arm chair. Sifting through, she picked up what looked like a couple of black scraps and a pair of black ankle booties at her raven haired sister. "Put that on."

Buttercup rolled her eyes. "Yes, ma'am."

A pair of pants and another shirt with a pair of stilettos were tossed in Robin's direction. "Here you go, Robbie!"

"Thanks!" Robin immediately began shucking her clothes to replace them with the treasures Bubbles had procured.

Blossom sat, spine ramrod straight, as she waited to see what exactly her sister deemed worthy for this momentous occasion. A short skirt was thrown in her direction. Blossom's pink eyes widened before she sputtered out, "Absolutely not, Bubbles! This is far too short!"

"So?" Bubbles asked. "You're going to be sitting anyway!"

"That makes it _worse_!"

"You deserve to look hot tonight, Blossy. Can you just trust me for once?"

"Buttercup," Blossom pleaded. "Help me out here?"

Her dark haired sister scowled back at her as she squeezed into the tight pleather shorts Bubbles selected for her. "You wanna trade?"

Blossom paled and simply shook her head. Well, she had wanted to have a true girls' night out, so she would have to trust that Bubbles didn't lead her too far astray. Opting to be a little more modest that her friends, she plucked up the skirt to slip it on in her bedroom. On her way, a shirt hit her in the back. With a sigh, she scooped that up too and closed the door most of the way behind her.

She tried to tune out the mix of whispers from her living room. They ranged from excited to worried and back again. Blossom hated causing everyone distress, but it was better to have them here. Her girls were going to get her back on her feet in record time.

After slipping on the outfit provided, Blossom peered at herself in her full length mirror. She grimaced at the sight of her red-tinged eyes and blotchy face; this is why she detested crying so much. Never in her life had the redhead been classified as a "pretty crier."

Face aside, the outfit was modest by Bubbles standards. The skirt hit her about mid-thigh, but the shirt left her bewildered. Why on earth were the shoulders bunching so strangely?

"Bubbles?" she called. "Is there something wrong with this shirt?"

The blonde in question popped her head into the room. Now clad in a skirt so short that Blossom thanked her lucky stars that her sister chose to have mercy on her, Bubbles strode into the room. Giggling, she tugged at Blossom's sleeves and suddenly the shirt fell much nicer. "There you go. All fixed!"

Only one problem. "Bubbles, I can't wear this."

"Why not?"

"My bra straps are showing!"

"So take it off. Duh!"

Blossom almost fell over at the suggestion. "I can't do that!"

Crossing her arms, Bubbles mouth pursed into a pout before she asked again, "Why not?"

"That's hardly appropriate."

"Blossy," Bubbles said slowly. "We're going to a strip club. The boys there will be wearing way less than you are. Besides, you can get away without one! I wish I was that lucky!"

Frowning, Blossom glanced back at her chest. It was true. Somehow as the oldest she had been less "gifted" in the chest department than her sisters. She had no issues with her body, but this was one of those moments where she truly wished her sister was incorrect.

"Besides, it's nice and warm out. And it will probably be pretty warm in the club too. So no worries, right?"

That sounded good in theory, but Blossom knew better than to trust her body not to react in a natural way in the presence of presumably good looking men. However, tonight was the beginning of a change – her own metamorphosis in a matter of speaking. The girls would make sure no one ruined their night, so why not take the chance?

With a sigh, she removed the article of clothing and turned back to the mirror. If she was honest with herself, Blossom needed to admit the shirt fell perfectly against her skin now. The soft pink of the shirt really drew attention to her eyes anyway. She genuinely smiled for the first time that evening.

Quiet as a mouse, Bubbles appeared next to her, hairbrush in hand. "I'm going to put your hair up, okay? Then a little light make-up, and you'll be ready for a night out!"

Blossom sat on the edge of her bed, letting her youngest sister scoop up her soft hair into a high ponytail. It was a smart way to wear it; this would keep the hair from sticking to the back of her neck if the club became humid.

The girls sat in amicable silence as Bubbles added the finishing touches. When she was done, the blonde beamed at Blossom. "You look beautiful, Blossy."

Her sister was too complimentary, of course. Blossom looked better than she had before her sister's intervening though and remained grateful that all signs of her previous crying disappeared beneath the make-up her sister applied.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Bubbles asked. "I know Robbie will be upset, but we can go another time."

Blossom smiled softly. "How many times do I have to say yes before you believe me?"

The blonde giggled again. "Okay, okay! I'm sorry! We're going to have so much fun tonight!"

"Hey!" The door to the bedroom swung open, revealing a Buttercup whose stomach was thoroughly flaunted in the cropped shirt she wore, her short hair with a couple of strategically placed curls throughout it. "Are we leaving sometime today? The club isn't open for all eternity, you know."

Glancing at the clock, Blossom realized it was already nearing 10:30 p.m. Surely if the club wasn't already open, it would be opening soon! Would they even be able to get in on such short notice? Was there typically a big crowd at places like this?

"No worrying!" Robin shouted. "I see you worrying, Bloss, and there is nothing to worry about! Tonight it's all about having fun and seeing sexy men dance! I texted Mike to see if there was anything he could swing for us, and he managed to get us on the VIP list." The brunette turned to smile smugly at Buttercup. "Looks like my 'annoying' flirting worked! You're welcome!"

"We wouldn't even be going to this place if it wasn't for you, remember?" Buttercup smirked.

Robin waved her off. "Details, details. Come on, girls! Let's go!"

With that, the four girls made their way downtown. Blossom hoped that the night could simply be one fun night with her best friends in the world to help her shed any remaining negative feelings about her ex.

But Blossom should have known better. Her life was never that simple.

* * *

Blossom shuffled into her kitchen and put on the instant coffee maker. This thing made some of the most horrific coffee she'd ever tasted, no matter how expensive the brand, but she desperately needed it this morning. And no way could she just leave and get the good stuff from downtown when a certifiable stranger remained asleep in her bed.

As the coffee brewed, she thought about what to do. If she remained casual, would he not address the potential awkwardness of the situation? Would he simply leave? Or try to sneak out when she wasn't paying attention? That was fine by her. Blossom didn't want him getting the wrong idea; there would be no repeat of last night.

Not that she could remember most of it anyway.

Which, in truth, was a shame. If his dancing was any indication, he probably was very good. Maybe even the best she ever had.

Oh well. Serves her right for falling into bed with a man she barely knew. She didn't deserve to reminisce about it.

Once the coffee maker finished, she poured herself a cup, dumping copious amounts of creamer and sugar into it, doing her best to mask the awful taste. Blossom grimaced after the first sip. 'You can't shine shit,' as the saying goes.

Her eyes flickered back to her ajar bedroom door. She allowed herself to peek for just a minute.

The sheets slung low around his hips now, showing off his incredibly sculpted physique. Though, Blossom supposed, anything less wouldn't really be appropriate in his line of work. An impulse to trace her fingers through the valleys between his abs shot through her, and she immediately blushed, turning her back to her room. Obviously staring at him for a few moments caused even her sober, albeit hungover, mind to lose much of its restraint.

Blossom's traitorous mind, rather than reinstating its restraint, flashed to the memory of when she first met Brick, though it was an official meeting. She'd just been a girl in the audience, watching him dance.

And she enjoyed it far more than she had expected to, if her current situation was anything to show for it.

* * *

She heard the establishment before she saw it. Bubbles agreed to be the designated driver, mostly by Buttercup's insistence that she wouldn't need drinks in her tonight.

When they arrived, Robin squared her shoulders and walked up the bouncer, flashing him a killer smile. "Hi! My name's Robin. I know Mike. Did he happen to mention we would be coming by?"

The man standing before them was the broadest gentleman Blossom had ever seen. He looked like he could encompass all four of them in his wingspan. Why on earth would a club that catered to women have such an imposing gentleman at its entrance?

However, he cracked a friendly smile that eased her mind somewhat. "You sure you girls are all here for Believe? You know he's just the bartender, right?"

Bubbles giggled. "Just Robin here. I think she caught his eye." She winked at the bouncer who tittered appreciatively.

"Well, he's a lucky guy. Go on in, girls." He stepped aside to let them pass.

Barely out of ear shot, Buttercup whistled lowly. "If they have a guy that hot guarding the place, these dancers are going to be some of the hottest people on the planet."

"Right?!" Bubbles squealed, fanning herself slightly.

Blossom frowned. The guy out front had been cute, sure, but far too broad for her to be comfortable with. Unwittingly, the idea of Bubbles even attempting to _hug_ a man that large, let alone be intimate with him flitted through her mind. Goodness, the man would dwarf her. Bubbles barely cleared five feet! That man had to be almost seven. The realization that her baby sister was attracted to hulking men like that startled her more than she wanted to admit.

With Buttercup…well, she had no doubt the body guard would have to work hard to keep up with her in any and all aspects.

The deeper they went into the club, the dimmer the lighting became, and the volume of the music increased. Blossom glanced around and saw that the place was packed with women of all ages – she swore she saw a table of silver haired ladies near the stage.

What had she gotten herself into?

"There he is!" Robin's face broke out into an even wider smile as she caught the eye of the cute brunet behind the bar. The boy, Mike, seemed just as eager to see her as he sent her a grin and gestured to an empty bar stool near him. Blushing, her brunette friend fought the urge to run over to the bar and kept her pace to a brisk walk.

Blossom glanced at her sisters who already began following Robin to the bar before taking up the rear. As she approached, she recognized the friendly bartender. Buttercup mentioned that he had gone to high school with them, but she couldn't quite put the name to the face. Now flashes of him scurrying through the halls to avoid some of the rude brutes they'd gone to high school with as well flashed through her mind. The poor kid had been tormented.

However, it looked like he wasn't bothered by it in the least. Buttercup hadn't been kidding when she said the kid really came into his own after high school. Where he had been all bones and awkward angles, Mike Believe seemed to put on some lean muscle. He'd gotten a haircut that better suited him and showed off his rather enviable bone structure. All in all, the years had been kind to Mike. Blossom was happy to see that he seemed remarkably chipper despite everything.

And the way he looked at Robin like she lit up the club didn't hurt either.

"Hey Robin. Hey girls," he greeted with a polite nod. "You ready for the show?"

"Is it really as good as you claimed? Or was that just a ploy to get Robin here?" Well, there went any hope of tactfully asking that question. Thank you, Buttercup.

Luckily, Mike chuckled. "Nah, it's really that good. If it was a ploy and then the show sucked, the charade would be ruined anyway, right?"

Robin rolled her eyes at Buttercup. "Ignore her. I'm sure the show is great."

"Not that you'll be seeing much of it from here," Buttercup mumbled with an eye roll of her own.

Bubbles laughed loudly as Robin shot Buttercup a dark look. "Well, since you know all about it, where should we sit, Mike?"

"Oh, no worries. I had the guys reserve a table for you so that you'd get a close look at the action." Mike gestured behind them.

Blossom followed his gesture. True to his word, there was a table with a lovely _Reserved_ sign on top of it, practically touching the edge of the stage. Well, it looked like there would be no turning back tonight. She was about to get very personally acquainted with a lot of half-naked, or perhaps more than _half_ naked, strangers.

"You're not half bad," Buttercup said with a smirk. "Can you get me a Long Island Iced Tea and a Strawberry Daiquiri for the redhead?"

"Coming right up." Mike smiled at Robin. "You want anything before you go watch the show?"

"Oh, uh, no. I'm fine for now." Robin slid onto the bar stool, momentarily avoiding eye contact with all of them. "Besides, I'll have a pretty good view from here, right?"

Now it was his turn to blush. Blossom smiled. The two of them were pretty cute together; she was happy she agreed to come out for Robin. It was clear that the two of them had hit it off quickly.

"Damn it. I should have put a bet on this. I've only been saying it all night," Buttercup groaned.

"Too late now, BC." Robin smiled triumphantly. She shot a look at Mike who walked down the bar to grab a bottle from a different shelf. "But I will pay for your drinks if you don't bring this up for the rest of time."

"Done and done."

Mike put the drinks on the bar, and Robin handed him a twenty. When he tried to give her the change back, she simply waved it away.

Okay. Now Blossom was starting to see what Buttercup meant when she mentioned that the two were so sweet they could be cavity inducing.

"Let's get to our seats, girls! I don't want to miss any of the show!" Bubbles tugged her arm and dragged her towards the table while Buttercup followed with their drinks. "See you later, Robbie!"

Blossom sat carefully, doing everything she could to make sure that her skirt didn't ride up. Bubbles, on the other hand, seemed so excited for the show that she barely sat at all, practically balancing on the very edge of the chair. When she glanced at her middle sister, Blossom wryly noted that her sister first tried to straddle the chair – possibly to eliminate the openness for lap dances, she realized, but the pleather shorts restricted her movement too much. So the lime eyed girl ended up plopping into her chair with an annoyed huff.

Giggling, Bubbles clapped her hands together. "Oh, girls, this is going to be so much fun! Here!" She grabbed fistfuls of bills out of her purse and handed them to her sisters. "Don't be afraid to be generous to your favorite!"

Buttercup rolled her eyes but accepted the cash. Blossom began to carefully arrange her money, nerves settling in. What if she accidentally groped one of the men while trying to tip him? Or if she let a dollar bill flutter to the floor, only to cause the dancer to slip? Or what if they –

"Will you chill, Bloss?" The redhead in question turned to her raven haired sister, who was smirking in her direction. "We're here to have some fun. Don't stress yourself out so much."

She laughed, though she heard it waver. "You're right. I'm probably just being silly. I've just never done anything like this before."

"It'll do you a world of good," Buttercup said. "So try to relax. It's the only way you're going to enjoy this at all."

The lights dimmed further in that moment as the blaring music died out to be replaced by a masculine voice with a slight southern lilt to it. Blossom looked around the room to see who the voice belonged to, and she didn't have to wait for long. A slightly older gentleman rounded the partition on the stage in nothing but some very low, very _tight_ blue jeans and a cowboy hat.

"All right, all right, all right." His voice lilted and a warm grin crossed his face as he crossed the stage. "How ya'll ladies doin' tonight?"

The cheers and whoops ascended instantaneously. Bubbles heartily cheered while Buttercup gave an appreciative whistle. Blossom, for her part, managed to daintily clap her hands a few times. Her mind ground to a halt when he entered.

If that was how the man giving the introductions was dressed, what on earth were these dancers going to be wearing?

Or not wearing?

Blossom felt her cheeks burning at the thought and tried to focus on his words rather than his (nicely toned, to be sure) body. For a man who had to be at least in his late thirties to early forties, the man screamed lean muscle. Thus, focusing needed to commence!

"That's good to hear, my sweet ladies. Are ya'll ready for a show tonight?" As he finished the question, the man began circling his hips sensually, and the cries of approval echoed off the walls.

She gulped. Was it too late to go home? She thought she was ready for this, but –

Then she felt a hand on her arm and glanced toward Buttercup whose eyes were glued on the cowboy. However, the message had been received. Blossom had agreed she wouldn't "turn tail," so to speak, but Buttercup was here to support her through it as needed.

Bubbles missed the exchange entirely, completely swept up in the atmosphere of the place. Blossom felt a small smile creep on her face at seeing her sister's face lit up. She could stay. For her.

"Then we'll kick off our night with a _wild_ man. Does that sound like somethin' you'd like?"

A particular group of women notably got even more excitable at this implication. Blossom's eyebrows disappeared into her hair. It seemed that even a club like this had regulars. Eyeballing her youngest sister warily, she made a mental note to watch Bubbles' spending habits when it came to this establishment. Otherwise, the blonde might spend all of her money here and become quite the regular herself.

"Ladies, please give a warm welcome to our resident jungle man Alan Lupinsky, better known to you all as _Fuzzy Lumpkins_!"

Buttercup snorted. "That's a fucking horrible stripper name."

However, Blossom only barely heard her sister above the din of the crowd. Questionable name aside, this gentleman seemed pretty popular.

A upbeat country tune started playing through the speakers, and Blossom heard Buttercup groan and saw her reach for her glass. Once the man turned the corner, the groan turned into a choked noise as her sister promptly had her drink go down the wrong pipe.

Well. That certainly hadn't been what Blossom had been expecting.

The man – though that word seemed to sell his stature short; he was built more like a bear – wore a white t-shirt, jeans that were not nearly as tight as the ones on the gentleman from before, and cowboy boots. Did they unintentionally go to a honky-tonk bar? Blossom looked at Buttercup whose face had clouded over. If that were the case, Robin would owe Buttercup for bothering to come along tonight. Her distaste for the genre was not a secret.

Blossom's gaze moved to Bubbles, her blonde head tilted as she watched the dancer curiously. She could understand the confusion; he did seem to be wearing an awful lot of clothes for this type of place. Maybe the men became more undressed as the acts went on?

 _RIIIIIIIP._

Oh. Oh dear. Or, as the word "strip" would imply, they did indeed remove the clothing in front of them. This man, this Fuzzy Lumpkins, ripped his white shirt right down the middle, revealing a rather…impressive…amount of chest hair. It was a little difficult to make out his chest and stomach muscles underneath, but Blossom didn't doubt they were there.

She simply didn't plan to search for them too hard.

After all, she preferred a cleaner look to the chest for one to properly admire the person's physique. But she supposed that was the beauty of a place like this; the women across the room clearly enjoyed the untamed hair. Some of the things these women were shouting about wanting to do to his chest hair alone made Blossom blush.

Fuzzy ate it up, paying a little extra attention to them, making sure to add a couple of extra thrusts in the direction of his fans. They responded by whooping and hollering louder, causing an even wider smile to grace the man's face.

A guitar solo pervaded the air, and suddenly another loud _riiiip_ bounced off the walls. And thus Fuzzy was down to just underwear. Or, more specifically, a jungle print thong.

"Oh my God, I'm gonna hurl," Buttercup muttered, gulping down the rest of her drink in one go. "I'm not drunk enough for this…"

It appeared that the…untamed quality of his hair…did not end at his chest. Though it all looked clean, the amount of hair that was just...just _everywhere_ was overwhelming. "It is quite, uhm, a lot, isn't it?"

"If he prefers to be all natural, I think that's good for him! Not everybody likes the clean shaven look," Bubbles said with a determined nod. "He makes it work for him."

Buttercup rolled her eyes. "Yeah, sure, whatever. Going to get myself another drink now. You want another, Bloss?"

"I'm fine, thank you, Buttercup."

Luckily, the song wound to a close soon after her sister went back to the bar. Thong completely lined with bills – Blossom believed she even spotted a twenty snuck in among them – Fuzzy confidently exited the stage.

No sooner had he left than the gentleman from earlier returned, no doubt to announce the next act. Blossom wondered if he refrained from introducing himself for a reason. Either the man was so well known he needed no introduction, or he respected his dancers and wanted them to be the only name stuck in the patrons' minds when they left.

"How'd ya'll enjoy that little number, huh?"

"WE LOVE YOU FUZZY!" One of the women from the group of Fuzzy fans shouted.

The man took it in stride with a charming laugh. "It looks like you liked it pretty good. Are ya'll satisfied? Would you like the show to stop now?"

The resounding "no" from every corner of the room made Blossom jump in her seat. This crowd was definitely a rowdy bunch, most of which had clearly participated in this call-and-answer before. There was no way this many women could feel the same thought so vehemently at the same time.

Right?

"Of course you want more! Well, pretty ladies, next up is the man who would call himself the King of Hearts if he wasn't so determined to be number one. Give some love for _Ace!_ "

And so the next hour went. Blossom watched as a parade of mostly naked men danced and thrust their way around the stage. Her cheeks felt permanently colored at this point. During one particular performance, she ended up eye level with a particularly… _prominent_ male feature on a rather rotund gentleman who danced in a group with Ace and three other men later in the evening. Like a bad movie scene, she couldn't look away, no matter how much she wanted to. Buttercup snickered as she sipped on her fourth drink at that point, and Bubbles giggled and stuck a dollar in the band of the man's undergarments before looking at Blossom expectantly.

Not wanting to be rude, she tried to delicately slide the bill into the band, but her pinky grazed his skin just enough to feel how much his exertions affected him.

Buttercup nearly fell out of her chair when she realized that Blossom now had the gentleman's sweat on her hand despite her attempts to be careful. Instead of discretely getting her sister a napkin, the lime eyed devil child decided to bump the back of Blossom's chair, causing her entire hand to slap against the man's thigh, only to immediately slide off the slick surface.

The cackling continued, and, mercifully, Bubbles darted to the bar to get some napkins since Blossom sat frozen in sheer horror at her intimate contact with the stranger.

At this point, Blossom was ready to depart. While she was appreciative of the sentiment to get her here, and some of the men had been rather attractive, this whole scene made her shift uncomfortably in her too-short skirt. She felt entirely too exposed, despite being one of the most clothed people in the place.

"Ladies, it's about that time. While you know the club stays open, the performances from my boys are about to end. Now…who's ready for the grand finale?"

Was it even worth noting the overzealous responses of the crowd anymore? By the fourth act, Blossom knew her ears would be ringing for the rest of the evening, if not well into tomorrow.

"Then please help me in welcoming our boys who love to get down and dirty. They're our resident bad boys who tend to get a little too rowdy and a touch too rough."

She had to strain to hear the man over the shrill shrieking from a woman a couple tables over. As if Blossom hadn't already been convinced she'd have a headache when she left…

"Oh my gosh! Blossy, BC – is that _Princess_?!" Bubbles gasped as she pointed to the noisy woman in question.

Buttercup and Blossom both followed their sister's finger to the woman who was indeed Princess Morebucks. Blossom didn't know why she was surprised. The girl's father probably bought this club for her to fill as she saw fit. Or, if not, she was here to blow daddy's money on all the boys he'd never let her date. Quite frankly, Blossom didn't care _why_ she was here; she simply wanted to avoid the other redhead at all costs.

The two of them never really managed to get along...

"What the hell is that twat doing here?" Buttercup hissed. "And damn, can she shut up already?!"

"Buttercup, enough," Blossom murmured, returning her attention to the emcee who certainly made a production of dragging out this introduction.

"I know what you ladies are after. Please welcome to the stage the Jojo Brothers, better known as the Rowdyruff Boys!"

Blossom didn't know what the rules of the club were, of course, it being her first time there. But she could say with certainty that Princess climbing onto the stage before the performance began was frowned upon.

A member of security carefully pulled her off and placed her gently in the chair, whispering something to her that, strangely enough, made the girl smile. Seemingly satisfied with whatever she was told, Princess sat primly with her eyes glued to the stage.

While the strange sounding base thundered through the speakers, three figures appeared through the floor. The boy on the left had some of the fluffiest looking blond hair Blossom ever saw, barring her sister's. The boy on the right had spiked black hair and looked almost as massive as the bouncer out front.

As for the one in the middle…well, he had a red cap bill pulled over his face and long red hair slicked back in a ponytail that stuck through the hole in the back of the ball cap. Without him even moving, Blossom felt the pull of his stage presence and felt her throat go a little dry. Unable to pull her eyes away from the still fully clothed male, she carefully took a sip of her drink to ease the desert that decided to take up residency in her esophagus at his appearance.

She didn't want to think about what her reaction was going to be once the clothes starting peeling away.

All three boys were in oversized zip-up hoodies and baggy sweatpants. One could argue that the clothing didn't exactly scream "sexy." However, one would obviously not having seen the way these boys carried the garments.

"I want the blond! I think he's cute!" Bubbles squealed, eyes locked on the boy on the left with the charming smile. Her hands waved fistfuls of money in the air.

And then they started dancing.

"Holy shit," Buttercup rasped out from behind her, but Blossom couldn't turn to face her because…well…it would be rude to not pay attention to those very rhythmic hips.

When their hands reached for the zippers on their hoodies, Blossom heard herself give a little yelp of appreciation in tandem with the cacophony of other women's happy cries. Though she found herself shockingly disappointed to discover that the boys all had tank tops underneath. They were practically glued to their skin though, leaving very little chest and abdominal muscle to the imagination.

Then the boys dropped to their knees and somehow using only their feet and pelvises moved themselves forward, always staying in perfect time with the music. When they ceased moving forward, the capped boy was only a few feet from them. From her angle, Blossom perfectly saw him from the side. When he, and she imagined the other boys though she didn't look away to be certain, began to thrust at the floor in that push-up position that showcased his incredibly toned arms, she felt her blush spread down to her chest, and her toes began to curl. Somehow she felt too hot and like someone dumped ice water on her all at once; a foreign feeling that she couldn't quite place.

Whereas most of the other performers, even the attractive ones, made her acutely uncomfortable, she found herself rather…enjoying this particular performance. Perhaps it was because the boy clearly trained in some type of legitimate hip hop courses, making all of his movements crisp and refined. Or it could be due to the fact that he was quite obviously the closest to her in age, giving her a level of comfort she was unable to feel with the older men.

However, the boy peeled off the tank top, tipping the brim of his hat up enough to finally see his face. When Blossom's eyes locked on that alluring smirk and dangerous red eyes, she felt a jolt go through her. She had seen this boy somewhere before.

But she definitely hadn't had the pleasure of seeing just how defined the planes of his body were prior to this moment. The handsome face struck a familiar chord, but that body…

Well, she'd have remembered a body like that. Honestly, she thought bodies like his only existed in airbrushed magazines. The hardened pectorals. The defined abdominals. The prominent "V" shape that seemed dedicated to drawing the eye to…more personal body parts.

Yes, Blossom absolutely knew she would have remembered seeing this before. She sipped her drink again, knowing in the back of her mind that drinking alcohol to keep her throat feeling hydrated was illogical.

But nothing about this moment felt entirely logical.

Then, for a brief moment, his eyes scanned the audience and locked on hers. And, against all odds, she saw it.

The flash of recognition that passed in his eyes too.

Now where on earth had she seen him before?

"Holy shit," Buttercup repeated, unabashedly fanning herself with a few of her dollar bills.

"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!" Bubbles cried delightedly. "He's coming this way!"

Sure enough, the three boys executed perfect back flips off the stage, entering the audience. And, it seemed, the blond chose Bubbles as his audience target. He danced his way over, the charming smile on his face all the while. Her sister became a giggling mess under his gaze and when he held out a hand to her, Blossom felt certain her sister melted into the floor before grasping his hand and being pulled towards the stage.

It appeared the other boys selected girls too. The dark haired one, for some reason, selected two women. While the redhead…

Had chosen Princess.

Blossom felt herself pale and forced herself to look away from the pair. However, watching her sister blatantly grind against the stranger was not helping her feel any better.

"GO BUBBLES!" came from the back of the club near the bar. Ah, so Robin _had_ bothered to look over from time to time. How kind of her.

Turning to the dark haired brother, Blossom realized that he took the song to heart. One of his volunteers lay underneath him as he rolled his body over her while the other thrust her hands in his hair, straddled over his back, quite literally riding him like a pony.

Buttercup snorted and rolled her eyes. "Show off."

Sparing her sister a glance, Blossom felt her lips uplift into a small, secret smile. Apparently Bubbles hadn't been the only one wanting to be picked by the handsome boys on stage. Her dark haired sister's jealousy in this situation was unmerited but kind of endearing in its own way.

Then Blossom remembered which girl the redheaded boy selected, and the smile slipped off her face. _'Pot, meet kettle,_ ' she thought to herself.

"Oh, for the love – Bubbles!" Buttercup groaned, burying her face in her hands. "She's not even drunk. Look at her!"

Unfortunately, she did as her sister told her and saw her sister with her legs wrapped around the dancer's waist, rolling her own body, while twirling one hand in small circles.

"Is that crazy girl that you say is related to us seriously _pretending to wield a lasso_ in front of all of these people?" Buttercup hissed.

That…did appear to be the case, yes. Despite that, though, the blond male seemed to be eating it up. His gaze never left their sister, regardless of the fact that this was meant to be a performance for a group of people.

And watching them lock eyes like that made her feel dirty. Like she was witnessing something meant to be intimate, something meant to happen behind closed doors.

"If our little sister doesn't try to get that man's number after the show, I will not know who I am anymore."

Blossom nodded absently and felt her eyes being drawn back to the red haired dancer. She watched him essentially do what Blossom believed qualified as "the worm" over an obviously smitten Princess. His hips snapped forward to the beat, never quite touching her, as he walked up and down her body on his hands, never losing his rhythm.

It was really quite an impressive feat. And undeniably…well, the only word that came to mind was _sexy_. Blossom never knew why people would choose to use that word over something like attractive or handsome, something with more dignity and respect put behind it.

Well, until now. Because those words couldn't do justice to the rippling of this boys muscles.

A small part of Blossom envied the position Princess was in. Surely, she could very easily identify all of the toned muscles in his body.

And get a very good look into those captivating eyes of his. Just thinking about the deep red hue of them sent a chill down Blossom's spine.

She had to figure out where she knew him from!

When the boys released their chosen partners, the women returning to the audience with flushed cheeks and beaming faces, they began more choreographed movements. The synchronization of their hip thrusts and arm movements was perfection. Suddenly, so quickly she almost missed it, the boys gripped the thighs of their sweatpants and ripped them clean off, tossing the torn garments behind them leaving only underwear that left very little to the imagination…

"Holy. Shit." Apparently Buttercup had chosen a catchphrase for the evening.

Though Blossom couldn't say she entirely blamed her. It seemed their legs were equally as toned as the tops of them.

"His ass is nicer than mine!" Buttercup hissed, outraged. "How often are these guys in the gym?! Seriously, it takes _work_ to get asses like those!"

"How are you even looking at their butts right now?!" Bubbles cried.

Blossom blushed. Her sister was very pointedly staring at the one body part that remained concealed by clothing. The clothing masked very little though.

It appeared that "well-endowed" could be added to the list of attractive qualities for these particular dancers.

Time felt like it snapped – moving too quickly and too slowly all at once. Blossom tried to ignore the dryness of her throat as she watched the sexy – really, he merited the word! – redhead dance, but then it seemed like, all too quickly, he disappeared into the floor from whence he came.

When the boys vanished from view and the music faded, there was a brief moment of silence. Then came the screaming.

"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!" Bubbles gushed. "That was the _hottest_ thing I've ever seen! How have we never been here before?! We _have_ to come back!"

"Right there with you, Bubs," Buttercup nodded solemnly, eyes looking a touch glassy. How many of those drinks had she had in the last hour? Five? Six? More than that? Blossom lost count after Buttercup's fourth. She restrained herself to only two, which was more than enough to have her feeling a light buzz.

Or maybe the buzz had nothing to do with the alcohol at all.

The noise only calmed when the emcee returned to the stage, and even then the excited energy was still prevalent. The man looked pleased by the enthused reactions of his audience.

"How'd you like the show ladies?"

Blossom joined in the whooping this time. It felt rude not to do so after that final performance!

…or maybe the buzz definitely had something to do with the alcohol.

"Aren't those Jojos somethin' special?"

"HELL YES!" Princess shrieked.

Buttercup whistled while Bubbles cheered. Blossom felt her hands stinging from clapping so hard. It didn't seem like enough, but she knew better than to join in the cheering. Who knew what would come out if she did?

The man chuckled. "I'll be sure to pass on the message. Now, ladies, I'm afraid to say that's the end of the performances for the night. But you're more than welcome to stay and mingle. Sometimes the dancers come out to play." He let that statement linger with a wink.

"We're staying!" Bubbles immediately insisted, blue eyes blazing with determination.

Buttercup shrugged. "I'm down. You in, Bloss?"

She still didn't trust herself to speak, so she simply nodded. Besides, if their designated driver decided to chain herself to the building for the chance of getting the blond's number, they would be stuck until one of them sobered enough to drive.

The music from when they first entered the club came back on. Another part of the club lit up, showing a dance floor, as the lights on the stage dimmed almost completely.

"Do you guys wanna dance?" Bubbles asked, eyeing the dance floor with a smile.

Blossom cleared her throat. "You guys go ahead if you'd like. I'm going to go check on Robin."

Buttercup shook her head. "You don't think you might be interrupting something?"

"She should at least know our intentions to stay."

With a giggle, Bubbles lips curled into a mischievous smile. "I don't know that she'd be leaving with us anyway."

"I don't blame her. I wouldn't leave with us either," Buttercup said with a snicker.

Blossom sighed. "I am not going to go by your assumptions, girls. I'll join you in a minute."

"Oh, no way! I'm gonna see what dirt that guy has on those dancers." Buttercup grinned. "If you're going to interrupt them anyway, we might as well make the most of it."

"You're right, BC! I bet Mike totally knows them!" With that, Bubbles darted back towards the bar.

"Could she at least try to be a little more subtle?" Blossom asked, repressing another sigh.

Buttercup shrugged, her grin growing. "She leaves that to you."

"Oh hush."

By the time the pair reached the bar, Bubbles already sat perched on a stool next to Robin, chatting away. Robin luckily looked nonplussed, so her interruption wasn't completely invasive. Thank goodness.

Blossom noticed that Bubbles directed her chatter at Mike and took the opportunity to check in with her brunette friend. "How are you doing back here, Robin?"

"Missed a hell of a show," Buttercup added.

Robin beamed back. "I've been just fine, actually. I caught the important parts. Like Bubsy here gettin' it on with Boomer Jojo."

This caught Bubbles' attention. "Wait, Robbie – do you _know_ them?!"

The brunette eyed her friends warily. "Not exactly. Mikey here told me."

"Mikey?" Buttercup asked, raising a brow.

"The blond is Boomer. The guy with the black hair is Butch. And the redheaded front man is Brick," Robin listed before looking to Mike. "Right?"

He nodded with a smile. "Yup. You could say those three tend to be a crowd favorite. That's why they asked Matt not to announce their names anymore. It became…a bit of a hassle."

"Matt? Was that the emcee guy?" Bubbles asked.

"Yup, that's him!"

Buttercup narrowed her eyes. "If they don't want that to be common knowledge, why would you tell us, practical strangers? That's kind of a sleazy move, isn't it?"

"Buttercup!" Robin cried, horrified. "You take that back!"

"I apologize for my sister's complete lack of tact," Blossom said quickly. "Though it does seem a rather odd thing to do."

Mike grinned sheepishly. "I guess you really didn't recognize them then. Sorry. I thought you guys knew them."

"How would we know them?" Bubbles asked.

Robin interjected then. "Mikey says they go to our school. Well, Boomer and Brick do anyway. I guess Butch goes to the trade school across the street."

That must have been it! That's where Blossom recognized the redhead – Brick – from. She must have seen him on campus somewhere. Those eyes were pretty impossible to miss in a crowd. At least now she knew that she hadn't made up the look of recognition that flashed through his features either.

After all, pink eyes were not exactly commonplace either.

"So tell us, _Mikey_ ," Buttercup drawled, shooting a look at a blushing Robin. "Do these infamous Jojo brothers tend to come out to play while the crowds are here?"

He laughed and shook his head. "Not likely. You'd be surprised how many of these women don't know how to keep their hands to themselves."

"But they picked us to dance with them! Shouldn't they tell us if they don't like to be touched?!" Bubbles began panicking. "I-I didn't mean to! Oh my gosh, please! Tell him, tell Boomer! Tell him I'm so sorry!"

Mike's gray eyes widened. "No, no. What you did was, uh, fine? Like you said, Boomer picked you. If he didn't want you to do something, he would have weaved his way out of it, don't worry about it! I didn't mean onstage."

Blossom's brows furrowed. "Do the women tend to get overly aggressive?"

"Let's just say some people have a hard time realizing that just because they perform onstage with minimal clothes on doesn't mean that they want to be taking their clothes off all the time." Mike scratched the back of his neck. "The poor guys end up spending a lot of money on new clothes because women try to…replicate the rip-away clothing that the guys use onstage."

"That's fucked up." Buttercup crossed her arms. "Doesn't the bouncer do anything?"

This time his laugh was better. "Well, when one of the main perpetrators is one of the owners of the club, it becomes pretty difficult for them to interfere."

"Princess." Blossom didn't word it like a question.

"Yup. If anything, she's only gotten worse since high school." Mike scowled. "Which I really didn't think was possible."

"Seems next to impossible," Buttercup agreed. "She's always been a massive cu-"

" _Buttercup_ ," Blossom warned.

"Bitch."

She slapped a hand to her forehead. That really wasn't better. It was best not to aggravate Princess while in her own club though. Especially if Bubbles truly did plan to try and come back again. So Buttercup needed to keep her voice down.

"You're not wrong," Mike said simply. "But yeah, the Jojos tend to wait until the front doors close to make their appearance."

Bubbles' face fell. "Oh."

"Bubbles, it'll be fine," Blossom reassured. "You can try to connect with him on campus."

"I guess." Bubbles sighed with a slight pout. "Darn it. Oh well. In that case, we can head out whenever you want to, girls."

Now it was Robin's turn to have her face fall. "Were you guys looking to leave now?"

"We don't have to! We can totally stay, Robbie! We can go dance or something. Right?" Bubbles suggested, giving Blossom a hopeful look.

Mike leaned onto the bar. "If you stick around, I might be able to convince the guys to meet you. I can't make any promises, but it's the least I can do to thank you girls for agreeing to come with Robin tonight."

The smile found its way back onto Robin's face in an instant after he said that.

"I'd hate to put you in that kind of position, Mike. Are you sure that would be acceptable?" Blossom pursed her lips.

He flashed her a smile. "Like I said, no promises. But I'll try my best." He turned to his fellow bartender. "Pablo, you got this for ten minutes? It looks the worst of it is over. I just gotta run back and talk to the guys. That cool?"

Pablo nodded briefly before returning his attention to the customer he was serving.

"Sweet. You're the best, Pablo. Be right back, ladies!" And with that, the sandy haired man slipped out from behind the bar and headed toward what Blossom could only assume was backstage.

"Soooo?" Bubbles leaned into Robin, her smile wide.

"Soooo what?" Robin asked, avoiding eye contact and taking another sip of her Mai Tai.

"You and Mike!" Bubbles squealed. "Is it a _love_ connection?"

"Don't be crazy! We just met."

"Psht. Yeah, right! You've known him since high school, Robbie!"

Robin blushed. "We didn't really know him then..."

Not one to be deterred, Bubbles giggled. "And by that look on your face, it looks like you wish you had! It is a love connection!"

"Shut up, Bubbles!" Robin pleaded, eyes darting nervously to where Mike disappeared to. "It's not going to become a lov-one of those if I can't even get a date with the guy before you scare him off just throwing around words like that!"

"Well, I'm happy for you, Robin," Blossom said with a delicate smile. "He seems like one of the good ones."

Almost immediately, Robin's eyes widened and mouth dropped in horror. "Oh God, Bloss. I'm the worst friend! Are you, like, totally mad at me? Here I am yammering on about –"

Blossom put up a hand, effectively ending her friend's rambling. "I wouldn't have said it if I didn't mean it."

She thought she heard Buttercup cough something that sounded mysteriously close to " _bull shit_ ," but elected to ignore it.

"Are you sure?" Wide blue eyes searched her face for deception, and Blossom was proud to say there was none to be found. She only spoke the truth here, regardless of Buttercup's implications. There was nothing that said she couldn't be happy for Robin and sad for herself in the same evening; the two ideas were not mutually exclusive.

Grabbing Robin's hand, Blossom smiled again, a little brighter this time. "Absolutely."

"But if _Mikey_ here steps out of line," Buttercup cracked her knuckles with a withering look. "He'll wish he was back in high school by the time I'm done with him."

"Oh stop it, BC. He seems nice!" Bubbles said. "And they'd make the cutest babies!"

"Bubbles!" Robin hissed. "Can you please _not_ with that?!"

Bubbles giggled again. "But you look so cute when you're all flustered! I'm sure he agrees with me, don't you, Mike?"

"Agree about what?" the male voice came from behind the bar once more.

Robin spun around so fast that she almost fell off her stool. Luckily, Mike grasped her arm, righting her before she went to the floor. Cheeks burning, Robin murmured her thanks.

"You okay?" Mike's brows knit in concern.

The brunette swallowed thickly. "F-fine." Mike's gaze didn't waver. "Promise."

"If you're sure…" Though he didn't seem thoroughly convinced, but didn't press the issue. Instead, gray eyes drifted to a different set of blue as he looked at Bubbles with a smile. "If you girls are okay with staying, the guys said they'd be willing to meet you after we close."

Bubbles gaped. "Are you serious?!"

"What did you have to do to make that happen?" Buttercup asked skeptically.

Mike waved it off. "Let's just say the Jojos owed me a favor. They should feel lucky I'm using it for this." He grinned. "Though when I told Boom his dance partner wanted to meet him, he couldn't say yes fast enough."

The blonde's cheeks flared, but it only grew worse after Buttercup murmured, "Looks like Rob isn't the only one who made a _love_ _connection_."

Two sets of blue eyes glared at her, but Buttercup only snickered.

"What time does the club close?" Blossom questioned, ignoring her ridiculous companions for a moment.

"You've got about another hour and a half. I know that's a pretty long wait, so I get if you don't want to stick around that long." His eyes betrayed his words as he glanced at Robin who still glared at Buttercup.

"What do you think, girls? Up for some dancing?" Blossom couldn't stop the smile spreading on her face at the look of sheer joy on her youngest sister's face.

"You mean it, Blossy?! We can stay?"

Blossom nodded only once before she was swept into a bone-crushing bear-hug, accompanied by more squealing.

"You are the best sister ever!" Bubbles cheered.

"Standing right here, you know," Buttercup muttered with a grin and an affectionate eye roll.

"Are you joining us, Robin?" Blossom watched as her friend bit her lip, obviously considering her options. Saving her the trouble, the redhead waved a hand. "You'll know where to find us."

"Keep your hands where I can see 'em, Believe!" Buttercup called as Bubbles dragged her away to the dance floor.

Blossom waved to the budding pair as she joined her sisters on the crowded dance floor and allowed herself to move to the pounding bass. There was something reassuring and reinvigorating about being able to let loose with her sisters surrounded by mostly women. Some of the dancers joined the crowd, but they had their fans fawning over them, so they didn't bother the Utonium sisters which suited her just fine. She just wanted to dance the negative energy that had plagued her earlier all the way away.

Tonight was about fun.

Surprisingly, the time flew. She barely left the dance floor, and Buttercup only insisted on them having one more drink, so she felt only the lightest, most pleasant buzz. The music thrummed in her veins, and Blossom genuinely forgot they were there for a reason until the shouts of "Last Call!" echoed through the speakers.

Then Bubbles' nerves began to…well, bubble out of her.

"Oh my gosh! I have to go touch up. I can't be this sweaty mess when they get out here!"

"Bubbles, you look fine," Buttercup said with a sigh.

"Says you! Come with me." Without waiting for an answer, Bubbles dragged her off, leaving Blossom to go check up on Robin at the bar.

Robin smiled at her, gaze darting to Mike who had begun cleaning the bar on the other end while Pablo mixed the last few drinks. "You doin' okay?"

"Honestly? This is the best I've felt in a long time." And Blossom was happy that it was the truth. Tonight reminded her of a freedom she'd often heard about but never felt. Between school and Dexter, she'd forgotten that other people didn't live life feeling like they were suffocating every day.

It was a nice change.

She was pulled into a huge, much more delicate hug than the one her sister gave her. "I'm so glad you came out tonight, Bloss."

"Me too."

Within the next few minutes, the club emptied of almost every patron. It was then that her sisters reappeared. Somehow Bubbles managed to pull herself together to look even nicer than she had when they first showed up.

"We didn't miss them right?" she asked as she adjusted her shirt, pulling it just a little bit lower.

"Bubbles, I swear to God, if you tug that any lower, you're going to give yourself a nip slip. Do not make me staple your hands to your sides!" Buttercup growled. "She's been fussing with that shirt for the past ten minutes! She looks fine!"

"I'd say that's a bit of an understatement."

Somehow, the girls had completely missed the approach of the blond and black haired Jojo brothers. Bubbles squeaked in surprise, her cheeks immediately flushing a deep red. Buttercup rolled her eyes.

"Hey. Name's Buttercup. You guys weren't half bad up there," she introduced, nodding to the stage behind them. "It's Boomer and Butch, right?"

"That would be us," Boomer agreed with the same charming smile he wore onstage. Rather shamelessly, he turned to his previous dance partner, reaching out a hand to her. "And you are?"

"Bubbles," she said softly, taking his hand and shaking it softly. Another giggle emitted from her. "Bubbles Utonium. It's nice to officially meet you."

"The pleasure's mine." Oh boy. That smile was going to get him in trouble if he wasn't careful. Bubbles practically melted at the sight.

"Watch it there, Casanova," Buttercup hissed. "That's my baby sister you're makin' eyes at."

Butch laughed. "I like this one. She's fiery." This seemed to remind him of something. "Speaking of, Believe!"

"Yeah, Butch?" the sandy haired boy called back.

"Where's my Fireball?"

"Coming right up."

Buttercup raised a brow. "Fireball?"

"Yeah. My brothers and I usually do a shot of it after the show for a job well done." Butch grinned. "You in?"

His grin was returned. "I could drink you under the table."

He laughed again, loud and booming. "Where the hell did you find these girls, Believe?"

"Knew 'em from high school," Mike answered. "And since you guys are being rude, the one on the stool is Robin, and the redhead is Blossom."

"Hello boys. Good show up there!" Robin greeted happily.

"Yes, it was…quite impressive." Blossom smiled politely, trying very hard not to look for their other brother.

Luckily, Butch asked the question so she wouldn't have to.

"Boom, where the hell is Brick?"

Oh. Well that scowl was quite a change from the previously bright smile. "I'll give you one fucking guess."

Butch groaned. "God damn it. She stuck around again, huh?"

"Of course she did."

Before Blossom could ask who, she heard the voice that was as grating as nails on a chalkboard.

"BRICKY-POO!"

Oh no…

But, sure enough, when the group of them looked back towards the stage there stood the irritating rich girl clinging to the arm of the missing brother in question, red cap now backwards atop his head. Her nails dug into his shirt in a way that couldn't be comfortable, and, if the look on his face was any indication, Brick was utterly miserable in his current situation.

"Hello Princess," he said with a resigned sigh, posture stiff.

"Awh, are you tired? That's a shame. I had hoped for you to finish what you started," Princess purred.

The poor boy looked positively ill. "I'm really not in the mood. Sorry."

She pouted. "Well you certainly seemed in the mood earlier! You know I love it when you dance with me."

Brick nodded, shooting an envious look to the rest of them at the bar as her nails officially ripped into his shirt from their tight grip.

Blossom frowned as Princess continued to push the issue with Brick, unbuttoning the top button of his shirt even after he tried to take a step back.

"God, I hate that cunt," Butch muttered. "I swear if she didn't own my ass, I'd have her locked up for the shit she does to him."

"Agreed, bro," Boomer said solemnly, eyes locked on the uncomfortable exchange. Bubbles didn't seem too bothered by that luckily, but only because she was watching the mess unfold as well.

"What do you mean?" Buttercup asked. "She doesn't force him to –"

Butch snorted. "She's certainly tried."

"That's fucked."

"No shit."

"Can't we do something?" Bubbles asked, brows furrowing.

Boomer let out a deep sigh. "Not if we want to keep our jobs."

"That's just messed up," Robin protested. "This is sexual harassment! I don't care who she thinks she is; she can't just do whatever she wants!"

"I told you, Robin," Mike said with a sigh that matched Boomer's. "She'll have our asses if we interfere."

"So everybody knows this is going on, and nobody does a damn thing about it?" Robin slammed a hand on the bar. "That's ridiculous!"

"We can't afford not to work here," Boomer murmured. "Nowhere else will pay half of what this does."

"And school don't come cheap," Butch added.

"What about her dad? Did someone talk to him? He's really the one who owns the place, right?" Bubbles suggested.

Butch scoffed. "You really think he'd believe a damn thing we say over his precious daughter? It's like spittin' in to the wind – it just winds up in your face."

"Ew."

Blossom remained silent, watching the scene unfold with shaking fists. This was wrong! How could they just sit by and do nothing?

And then Princess ripped open his button-up, the buttons violently flying across the room, and she sank her nails into his chest cuddling up against him. He winced and tried to take a step back, but her talons found purchase and beads of blood appeared.

Her feet moved without her brain telling them to. This was stopping. Now.

"Blossy?"

"Bloss, what are you doing?"

A groan. "Well, Leader Girl mode is in full swing now."

She strode within a few feet before speaking. Her mouth, like her feet, seemed to have a mind of its own. "Oh, Brick, there you are! We've all been waiting for you!"

Two sets of eyes bore into her – one angry and one a mixture of confused and grateful.

"Blossom Utonium?" Princess snarled. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Blossom smiled, not a kind smile either, as her mouth acted out again. "Why, seeing my boyfriend perform, of course. So, if you could kindly unhand him…?"

The hazel eyes narrowed, flickering between Brick and Blossom. Blossom could only pray he decided to play along. "You two? Since when do you know each other?"

"We met in our Physics class in college," Brick replied smoothly, successfully stepping out of the claws this time, her grip having slackened in her surprise. He slipped an arm around Blossom's shoulders, and she fought a shiver against the feeling of his scorching hot skin against hers.

She schooled her face carefully as she slid her arm around his waist. She was, in fact, taking a Physics class that very semester. But it had to be a coincidence that he picked that, right? "And we got to talking, one thing led to another, and here we are." The not-so-nice smile weaved its way back onto her face. "Isn't he a wonderful dancer, Princess?"

A familiar snort and pair of gasps came from the area of the bar, but she couldn't break eye contact now. That would be the same as losing.

And Blossom Utonium couldn't lose. Not now. For Brick's sake.

Princess scoffed. "If you're his girlfriend, why didn't he pick you to be his partner?"

Blossom forced out a giggle. It felt foreign in her throat, but it didn't sound as unnatural as she worried it might. "Oh, Princess. Why worry about that when I can have the real thing? It seems unfair not to share."

Then, because her body decided to go full rogue this evening, she gave Princess a wink.

Now she could have sworn she heard someone choking at the bar, but she could only hope they could handle it themselves. She'd check on whoever it was later.

"There's no way a prude like you ended up with someone like him," Princess insisted. "Not when he could have someone like me!"

Denial was not a good color on her. "And if I'm a prude, what exactly does that imply you are?"

Now it was Brick who stifled a laugh next to her. Blossom allowed herself to smile at the small success.

Princess, however, looked apoplectic. "You – you…YOU -!"

"Yes, Princess?" Blossom asked innocently.

"You can't have him!" she shouted.

The early, airy giggle was long gone. Now, Blossom felt it being replaced by a deep, throaty chuckle. "Seems a bit late for that, my dear. I already do."

"I will end you, Utonium!"

"You do that." Blossom took a step forward, and Princess stiffened. The girl always had been just a little bit afraid of her. "Oh, and Princess?"

"What?"

"If I ever see or hear about you trying to manhandle my boyfriend again, it is I who will be ending you. 'Kay?" Blossom smiled sweetly, grabbing Brick gently by the hand. "Ta, Princess! Have a pleasant evening!"

She didn't look back, simply dragging Brick to the bar as she heard the wench sputtering behind her. She would apologize to Brick once they got the crazy girl out of the building.

"My father will hear about this!" Finally, in a huff, the spoiled girl stormed out of the building.

A silence hung over the group for a moment. Maybe two. Before suddenly everyone was talking at once. However, only one mission was over. While Buttercup lamented not having her camera ready, and Bubbles congratulated her on doing the right thing, and the Jojo brothers practically sang her praises, Blossom allowed none of it to stop her.

"Mike, can you get me the first aid kit, please?"

Blossom wordlessly sat the redheaded Jojo brother on a stool while Mike procured the kit. Once he handed it to her, she took the antiseptic spray and frowned at the shallow cuts on his chest.

"This might sting a little."

Brick simply snorted. "I'll be fine."

The sharp intake of breath after the first spray did little to back-up his claim.

She carefully cleaned the nail marks, a frown etched onto her face. Blossom liked to think of herself as a relatively open-minded and accepting individual, but Princess brought out the worst in her. The prissy brat disgusted her in ways most other humans failed to do. How could she treat one of her employees like this? Much less one she was, supposedly, romantically interested in? Blossom would never understand.

After bandaging the worst of them, she offered him a soft smile. "There. That should stop the worst of it."

"Thanks, uh…"

"Oh. I'm sorry, I didn't properly introduce myself." Blossom widened her smile and stuck out her hand. "Blossom Utonium. The pleasure's all mine, Brick."

He shook her hand, scanning her face with a look she couldn't quite read. It took every ounce of restraint she held within her to keep from shifting from foot to foot under the pressing stare. "Right. Thanks, Blossom. You really saved my ass back there."

"Hell yeah, she did!" Buttercup heartily agreed. "That was awesome, Bloss! Did you see her face?! I wish I took a picture. Oh my God, it was gold!"

"You definitely put that bitch in her place. Thank God someone finally did," Butch muttered. "I just wish I could've done it."

"Tell me about it," Brick said with a bitter sigh. "Hopefully it's just one more year. Then we can leave this place."

Bubbles gasped. "But you guys are so good!"

"I'd hardly say their talents are worth the distress, Bubbles," Blossom murmured as she cleaned up the supplies before handing Mike the first aid kit back.

The blonde bit her lip. "I know…"

"She just doesn't want to stop seeing Boomer dance!" Robin teased with a grin.

Now Bubbles flushed red. "I didn't say that!"

"You didn't have to!"

Blossom shook her head and then turned her attention back to Brick. "But really…are you all right? Do you want us to go to the authorities?"

He snorted. "Good luck finding someone that isn't in the Morebucks family's back pocket."

"You're avoiding the question."

The red eyes blinked back at her in surprise. Mike stifled a snicker from behind the bar while Butch and Boomer both stared at her with wide eyes. What? What did she say?

"I'm fine, Blossom." His mouth thinned into a grim line. "Better than I would have been without you here to save my ass. I owe you one."

She felt herself flush this time. "No, you don't. That was long overdue. That girl has paraded around acting like she's better than everyone for years. I wasn't about to stand aside and let her completely take advantage of you. I only did what any decent person would do."

"Yes, and this has nothing at all to do with the rivalry the two of you had in high school." Blossom barely had to glance Mike's way to know that he wore that same cheeky grin he'd sported most of the evening.

"That's irrelevant."

"OoO, Red and Princess have a history?" Butch goaded. "That sounds plenty relevant to me."

"Princess is just a big bully," Bubbles said.

Buttercup scowled. "The only person she tried to torment more than Blossom was Believe over there."

Blossom waved away her sisters' words. "It's in the past. I don't hold grudges."

"Certainly seemed like you were holding a grudge with the way you were glaring at her earlier," Buttercup said, eyes glittering mischievously.

"She was attacking an innocent person! Who in their right mind wouldn't be glaring?"

"That isn't what I'm talking about." Now a devious grin pulled across her sister's face to match the dangerous lime twinkle.

Oh no. She'd noticed! How had Buttercup noticed?! She'd had so much to drink and didn't seem to be focusing on much of anything, let alone Blossom watching Brick dance. Blossom didn't even consider that she might have noticed.

But that look told Blossom she was not blessed with such luck tonight.

However, Bubbles came to her rescue by beaming up at Boomer. "But, really, you guys are great dancers. This club definitely won't be nearly as popular when you guys leave."

Boomer smiled at her. "You weren't so bad yourself."

Bubbles giggled. "Having a good partner always helps."

"Oh, gag me." Buttercup rolled her eyes. "I don't think the dry-humping you two were doing constitutes as partner dancing."

"Don't be sore just because you weren't picked, Buttercup." Blossom couldn't stop the grin that came across her face.

The dark look her sister shot her proved that her words had their intended effect.

The amused look on Butch's face was merely an added bonus.

"Oh, yeah, Spitfire?" The hulk of a green-eyed man nudged her sister slightly. "You jealous I didn't pick you?"

The scoff that greeted him lacked a lot of conviction. "No. Whatever. Don't just listen to her because she saved your brother's ass. She's full of shit."

Butch snickered. "Yeah?" The grin on his face widened. "You're a pretty shitty liar."

She rolled her lime eyes. "Think whatever you want, but I wasn't jealous."

"Does that mean you would turn down a chance to dance with me?"

Buttercup narrowed her eyes. "This feels like a trick question."

"Nah. My brothers and I were planning on going to a club across town on Thursday. It would be an opportunity to dance and not embarrass yourself if you can't keep up," he said with a wink.

Blossom's competitive sister fumed. "I can keep up just fine!"

"Great. So I'll see you Thursday then."

Buttercup blinked. "Wait. What just happened?"

Robin grinned at her from the bar. "Looks like you just got asked on a date and said yes. What an unexpected twist!"

"But you're the one who was supposed to – it isn't a – oh for the love –" Buttercup groaned, burying her head in her hands. "This was not how this was supposed to go. Way to drop the ball, Believe!"

The brunet in question immediately blushed. "What does that mean?!"

She gave him a withering look. "You know damn well what it means! You've been chatting Robin up all night, her ass hasn't left the stool, and you haven't even asked her on a date yet? What the hell is that?"

"Buttercup!" Bubbles chastised. "There is no rush! Ignore her, Mike. You can ask Robin out if and when you want to!"

"If? Gee, thanks, Bubbles," Robin muttered.

As the bickering of her friends was joined by the snickering of Butch and sputtering of Mike, Blossom turned her attention back to Brick. "I'm sorry for bringing all of this crazy into your workplace. Robin insisted."

He shook his head with a small, confident smile. "No apologies necessary, Blossom. In comparison, this is a good kind of crazy." He leaned in closer. "And, between you and me, I don't think I've ever seen any of the guys like this before. It's a nice change."

Blossom smiled a soft, guilty smile in return. "I'm afraid I wouldn't really know the difference to confide in you. It's been awhile since I've been out with the girls. But they seem happy, and that's good enough for me."

"Mhm," Brick murmured, eyes scanning the group. The whole affair was getting more ridiculous by the minute, and Blossom fought the urge to go grab one of them by the collar and drag them off the premises. How embarrassing! "Hey nimrods – why don't we all just go?"

"What?" Boomer, who had only gotten involved in the fighting when it looked like Mike was going to fly across the bar at Butch, asked.

"We were planning to go anyway, before Butch decided to make it a date."

"It's not a date," Buttercup grumbled, but the pink tint to her cheeks gave her away.

Brick shook his head before continuing on. "So why don't we all just go together?"

"Like…a group date?" Bubbles questioned, eyes flickering towards Boomer as a huge smile crawled across her face.

"You know I can't dance," Mike said, eyes trained on the bar.

Robin beamed, leaning over to put herself in his line of sight. "I'll teach you. And if you're really that bad, well…I'm sure we'll find something else to do."

"You dirty bird," Buttercup said with a snicker.

Blossom, on the other hand, bit her lip. "Are you sure, Brick? We wouldn't want to intrude. You probably don't get a lot of time away from women throwing themselves at you, so we wouldn't want to make it worse for you."

The grin he sent her way sent shivers from her head all the way through her toes. Did anyone have the right to make people react so strongly with such a simple quirk of the mouth? "You planning on throwin' yourself at me, Blossom?"

She felt her face heat up as she shook her head. "N-no, of course not! I just meant –"

He laughed then, and she felt some of the tension ease from her shoulders. "Chill. If I thought you would, I wouldn't have brought up the idea in the first place. Besides," he leaned in closer to her, and she felt her mouth dry up again, "wouldn't do me well to not be seen in public with my girlfriend, right?"

Blossom buried her face in her hands. "I'm so sorry. I really don't know where that came from!"

Brick put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, it worked, and that works for me. And if I was going to have a girlfriend, I could do a lot worse."

Then he winked, and Blossom swore her knees turned to jelly for an instant. She felt hot all over, and a small part of her mind screamed about how she'd never gotten this feeling with Dexter. Thinking of him in this moment felt wrong; Brick didn't deserve to be compared to a lowlife like him. She almost apologized again, but voicing her thoughts out loud would not end well.

"If you're certain," Blossom agreed. "Thursday it is then."

"I'm looking forward to it," he said with that knee-knocking grin, and Blossom forced herself to move towards her friends.

"All right, girls. It's getting late. I think it's best that we let the gentlemen rest, don't you?"

Bubbles pouted. "I guess…"

"I'll see you Thursday," Boomer reminded her with a smile. "I'll be counting down the days."

This seemed to appease her baby sister who giggled appreciatively. "Me too."

"You two are disgusting." Buttercup slid off her stool without so much as a look back in Butch's direction. "I thought Robin and _Mikey_ over here were bad, but you two are putting them to shame."

"See you Thursday, Spitfire."

"Yeah, yeah. I'll be there."

Butch chuckled. "Can't wait."

Then there was one. Robin smiled widely at Mike. "I'll see you soon then."

He nodded, a goofy smile on his own face. "Sounds great."

Blossom almost choked when she saw her friend boldly grab the bartender's tie and yanked his lips to hers. The kiss, though brief, left the poor boy stumbling when Robin pulled away. If Blossom thought his previous smile was goofy, it didn't hold a candle to the look he wore now.

"Text me, Mikey!"

The boy only nodded as the girls left.

They barely reached the door before Bubbles squealed. "Oh my God, Robin, I can't believe you did that!"

Robin shrugged. "Buttercup got asked on a date first, so I couldn't let her get the best part of the evening."

Buttercup rolled her eyes. "It's not like I wanted him to, you know!"

"Funny, I didn't hear you complaining or saying no either."

"Shut up, Robin."

Blossom shook her head. Her first night out with her girls in months had gone remarkably well, all things considered. And she even made plans to do it again within a week. For the first time in a long time, she felt like she was floating on cloud nine.

* * *

But, of course, that feeling didn't last given her current predicament.

Blossom had never been in this situation before. She didn't know if she should try to take control of the situation or not. Rather than let him sneak past her, should she wake him up? But if she woke him up, what would she do? Talk to him about it? Throw him out? Pretend it hadn't happened?

None of those options seemed particularly viable, so Blossom chose to keep doing what she was doing about the situation which was absolutely nothing. She had no idea if Brick had been in this type of situation before, but she could only hope he would handle it with more grace than she was at the moment.

The worst part of the whole situation stemmed from her not being able to decide what she truly wanted his reaction to be. Sure, she forgot most of the night after they fumbled back into her place, but she remembered the way his lips scorched hers and not wanting that feeling to stop. Brick made her toes curl on sight, a quality she'd never heard of prior to meeting him.

But that didn't mean the attraction was anything more than that: sheer attraction. Well, she assumed he was attracted to her, at least a little. Right?

She heard some shuffling come from her bedroom and looked up to see a sleepy-eyed Brick standing in the doorway. Blossom swallowed back the urge to smile at how utterly adorable he looked in a state of half-asleep. Really, it wasn't fair for anyone to have abs like that and still be so cute at the same time. His parents needed a strongly worded letter written to them about the injustice of it all.

"Good morning," he murmured, not moving from his spot, but Blossom felt his gaze fixed on her.

"Good morning, Brick," she replied. "Would you like some coffee?"

"Coffee sounds…great," he said slowly. "Are we not going to talk about this?"

Blossom sighed. Apparently, he wanted to start this morning off the hard way.

* * *

 **So that's part one! I'd love to hear what you think and if you're at all interested in seeing part two!**

 **Thank you so much for taking the time to read this!**

 **Love and Rockets,**

 **Stranique**


	2. Chapter 2

**Welcome back! Wow, I can't thank you all enough for your favorites, follows, and reviews! I was going to wait a couple days longer to post it, but since everyone has been so wonderfully positive so far, I figured it was only fair to post it today.**

 **Friendly reminder that this is low M, so there will be no full on citrus.**

 **I own basically nothing other than meshing these ideas together.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 _ **Previously…**_

" _Good morning," he murmured, not moving from his spot, but Blossom felt his gaze fixed on her._

" _Good morning, Brick," she replied. "Would you like some coffee?"_

" _Coffee sounds…great," he said slowly. "Are we not going to talk about this?"_

 _Blossom sighed. Apparently, he wanted to start this morning off the hard way._

* * *

"Talk about what?"

Brick buzzed his lips. "About what happened last night."

"Is there something to talk about? We both know what happened. What more is there to discuss?"

He forced out a chuckle. "I gotta admit, I wasn't expecting to be the one more interested in talking about this."

"Well, I would rather hear what you think." Better to hear his opinion first rather than unintentionally misdirect the conversation and create more awkwardness.

"Do you remember much from after we left the bar?"

"Not really."

"Well, that kind of makes me an asshole. Jeez. I'm sorry, Blossom."

Blossom firmly shook her head as she handed him a mug of coffee on her way to sit at the table. "Absolutely not. You were drunk too, right?"

"Well, yeah, but –"

"So neither of us were in a clear state of mind. Decisions were made on both of our parts. I don't blame you for this." Truthfully, she was more disappointed that she didn't remember than anything else, but she felt it best not to admit that right now.

"That's good," Brick murmured. "But where do we go from here?"

"What do you mean?"

He blushed, and Blossom fought back the urge to do the same. "I mean is that it? A onetime thing?"

"Isn't that what you want?" she asked carefully.

"I'm not so sure that it is," he said softly.

Blossom blinked in surprise. "What?"

Misinterpreting why she asked her question, Brick immediately threw his hands up in surrender. "I know that you might not be ready to date yet, so I don't want to make this conversation more awkward by bringing up the possibility that I might be interested in pursuing…that. With you."

"Dating?" She felt her cheeks tinge pink. "Why on earth would you want to date me?"

Brick cocked his head, eyes squinted in disbelief. "Please tell me you're joking. You have to be joking, right? That was _you_ I was with last night, wasn't it?"

"Of course it was! But…" she choked the next part out, "sex and dating are not always mutually exclusive."

"They are for you."

"Why would you assume that?" she asked.

"I'm not assuming anything," Brick finally walked toward her from the doorway, sitting at another chair at the dining room table. "You told me that yourself when we talking at the bar last night."

Blossom groaned. "Oh God. That's embarrassing." She begrudgingly looked him in the eye. "And you still believe me, despite last night proving to be quite different?"

"Yeah. I do."

"That's an awful lot of faith to give someone you hardly know."

Brick shrugged and a natural smile slid on his face this time. "Call it a gut instinct." He searched her face. "So…does that mean it's on the table?"

"I…I still don't understand. You saw…a horrific part of the aftermath of dating me. Why would you still want to after that catastrophe?"

"Blossom, I need you to hear me when I say this." Brick grasped her hand and squeezed it gently. "Your ex being a son of a bitch was not your fault."

"No, but my reaction –"

"Was completely justified."

She met his gaze again. His sincerity burned in his eyes, and Blossom bit her lip.

While last night might have led to a less than ideal situation, what she wished she could take back the most was the scene that had taken place in her Physics class on Tuesday afternoon.

* * *

Blossom straightened her shoulders before entering the classroom, arriving promptly five minutes early as always. While the weekend with her sisters and Robin helped to mend the pieces of her broken heart, her pride was still shaky at best. This would be the first time she would see Dexter since he informed her there was someone else – someone better. So she swore to herself that she would keep her head held high and stick to her routine. She'd be damned if she was going to let him dictate where she sat.

She would be sitting in the same place as always, thank you very much. And if he took issue with that, he could be the one to move.

Sliding into her usual chair in the middle of the second row of the lecture hall, Blossom released a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding. He hadn't arrived yet. Good. She staked her claim, and he could pound sand. Her butt was, for all intents and purposes, glued to this chair. She was the woman who would not be moved! Nothing could shake her resolve!

"Hey. This seat taken?"

Except that deep voice that made her toes curl in broad daylight! Blossom heard the smirk in his voice before she even turned to face him.

When she did, the urge to swoon made itself quickly known before she repressed it. In a fitted white t-shirt under an unbuttoned red button-up, he looked almost as good as he did with nothing on his muscular form at all. The smirk on his face oozed the same charismatic confidence that drew her to his performance on Friday night.

Realizing that he expected an answer, Blossom quickly said, "Not at all. Please, sit."

Brick slid into the chair next to her, and she felt the heat radiating off of him. Goodness, the boy was like a walking furnace! For someone prone to feeling a constant chill like herself, Blossom felt a strange comfort having him sit so close to her.

In this. Her Physics class… Wait a minute!

"So is this why you picked Physics class as the place that we met?" Blossom asked, sending him a knowing smile.

He grinned in kind. "It may have had something to do with it, yes."

"How did I not know you were in this class with me?"

"You're not the most observant person around, sweetheart. I've been four seats down the entire semester."

Her cheeks burned. It seemed awful to not remember him, but there was one small glimmer of hope for her. "Well, I did recognize you when you were…performing." She averted her gaze. "Though I wasn't sure from where."

"No big deal," Brick said with a shrug. "You usually seemed pretty invested in whatever the half-pint with you always had to say."

Dexter. He was talking about Dexter. He'd _seen her_ with Dexter.

More interestingly, he'd noticed her with Dexter.

"Yes, well," Blossom huffed. "Turns out that was a waste of my attention."

"No surprise there. Guess you should have looked four seats down sooner, huh?" he asked with a wink.

Blossom bit her lip to hide the girlish smile threatening to break across her face. What a shameless flirt he was!

Was it wrong to find it so endearing?

"I guess so," she replied, barely noticing as she leaned in closer to him. "Better late than never, as the saying goes, right?"

His grin grew as he leaned toward her too. She wouldn't have noticed if it weren't for the fact that his nose accidentally brushed hers and caused her breath to jam itself in her throat.

"That's true." Brick's red eyes searched her face. "Your face matches your sweater, you know."

Because that wasn't going to make her blush worse or anything. She pulled back a little, clearing her throat. "That's just the way my face looks."

"Sure, whatever you say." He sat back leisurely in his chair. "It suits you though…Pinky."

Blossom wrinkled her nose. "Pinky?"

He nodded sagely. "You seem to like the color, and the color definitely likes your face. It seems like as good a nickname as any."

"Do I need a nickname? Is my regular name not sufficient?"

"Blossom is kind of a mouthful if you think about it."

"It has the exact same number of syllables as Pinky! In what way is it a mouthful?!"

With a chuckle, Brick shook his head. "Your sister was right. Teasing you really is way too easy."

She froze, eyes narrowing. "What else did Buttercup say?"

"I don't believe I said which sister."

There was no need! He was so new, it was cute. Bubbles would never sell her out like that to a boy! …or, at the very least, she would make it sound like Blossom wanted to throw herself at the man, not be made fun of!

"When did you talk to Buttercup?"

"I ran into her yesterday on my way to my Anatomy class. Turns out we have it together."

"But you never noticed?" Blossom teased. "What happened to looking four seats away?"

Brick flushed, looking away for the first time. "You got me there. In my defense, your sister hides in the back of the classroom usually, or so she says."

She sighed. "Because she hopes not to get noticed when she's late, right?"

"More or less, yeah."

"I always told her if she would just leave on time instead of spending all her spare time scrounging the internet for car parts that she wouldn't have that problem!"

"She lookin' to build something?" Brick asked.

"Not exactly. She wants to replace parts of the car she already has. Soup it up, or something like that."

"Butch could probably help her with that."

Blossom raised a brow. "Help her with her car? Possibly. But somehow I don't imagine your brother would do much to help my sister get to class on time."

"I can't deny that. Too bad they can't be good like us and just get to class on time."

"It is a shame, isn't it? Where did we go wrong with those two?" She couldn't remember the last time conversation had been so easy. Sure, dissecting String Theory was interesting in its own right, but it didn't afford the same lightness as conversation like this.

However, simplicity never lasted for Blossom Utonium for long. Before Brick could continue their conversation, a box was placed in front of her. Looking up, she realized the person holding the box was the last person she wanted to see right now.

"Hello, Blossom."

"Hello, Dexter." She fought to keep her jaw relaxed. Getting aggressive here would do her no favors.

"I have brought a box of your personal effects that I gathered from around my apartment." Another box was placed on the table in front of her, this one empty. "I knew you would not have the same foresight, so I brought a box for you to fill with the items I may have left in your apartment as well. You can return them on Thursday prior to class starting, and then we can amicably part ways."

Her gaze flickered between the two boxes before she released a deep sigh. "Sure. Thanks for my stuff back." She thought now might not be the best time to inform him that Buttercup and Robin ransacked her apartment for all things Dexter and did a ceremonial burning in the park over the weekend.

"It seemed the least I could do." Dexter pushed his slipping glasses back up his nose – a quirk Blossom once found adorable that was now gratingly irritating. "Besides, it is probably best for you to have no reason to drop by unexpectedly. Olga moved in this weekend, and it would be best for the two of you to never meet."

Blossom felt that news right in her gut, effectively knocking the wind out of her. They had only broken up on Friday! And this other girl, this Olga, moved in already?! How long had he drawn this out, exactly?

But she would not cry. Not here. Her pride had taken enough blows to last a lifetime in the course of a few days.

"Understood. I will bring your things for you on Thursday." She forced a small smile at him.

"You're being very mature about this, Blossom. I'm very proud of you. It always was one of my favorite qualities of yours." Dexter bowed his head once. "Now I can move to the front row where I have always longed to sit. Good day."

Once he walked away, Blossom allowed herself to take a couple of deep breaths while Brick whistled lowly.

"Wow. You seriously dated that douche?"

"Not one of my finer life choices, I am well aware," she snarled.

Brick raised his hands in a mock surrender. "Sorry. I guess I just don't see the appeal."

Now her heart plummeted to her stomach. Did Dexter really manage to taint Brick's opinion of her so quickly? "I'm not all bad, you know."

"What?" Brick's eyebrows knitted in confusion for a moment. Then his eyes widened. "That is not what I meant!"

"It's fine, Brick. I get it." Blossom began digging through the box of trinkets Dexter returned to her. She was grateful to have some of it back but even more grateful for the distraction. "Dexter has made it perfectly clear that I'm not exactly a catch. You agreeing is perfectly understandable, but could you do me a favor and talk about it with your brothers later when I'm not around rather than rub it in my face?"

He groaned. "Pinky –"

" _Don't_ call me that."

"Blossom then. That's not what I meant." Brick rubbed his forehead. "I don't see what the appeal was for _you_ to date _him_."

She shrugged, ignoring the undeniable twinge of pink to her cheeks. Her cheeks apparently decided to listen to Brick and remain her favorite color whenever he spoke to her. "He's a brilliant scientist."

"Okay. And?"

"What do you mean?"

"Did you seriously only date him because he was good at science?"

"That was how it started, yes."

"Then what? He proved to be really romantic? Really funny? A good lay?"

Her mouth dropped open in a gape. "I don't see how any of that is your business!"

"It's not. But I'm really hoping for you to tell me that he has some other redeemable quality than a big brain for science. Because, if not, I cannot understand how someone as ridiculously out of his league as you put up with him for so long."

She waved a hand to brush his comment away. "I don't believe myself to be out of anyone's league."

"Then you really sell yourself short, Pinky."

This time she didn't berate him for using the nickname. It made her insides clench in a pleasant way. "You barely know me."

He shrugged. "I know enough to know you don't deserve to be talked to like he talked to you."

"Well, that's very kind of you, but it's fine. I'm used to it." Blossom continued rummaging through the box to make sure nothing she truly wanted was missing. Thus missing the frown on Brick's face.

"You're _used to it_? What the hell does that mean?"

"He always talks like that."

"Wow. He's an even bigger douche than I thought."

"Yes, well. Hindsight." She spotted something in the box she didn't recognize and pulled it out. To her horror, it was a dark navy, mesh bra. One that was definitely a cup size or two too big for her.

Brick's eyebrows kissed the rim of his backwards ball cap, and his face burned red. "Well that's uh…quite the bra you've got there, Pinky."

"It's not mine." Blossom didn't know if he could even make out the words due to how tightly her teeth were clenched.

"Oh. Well, shit."

She clenched the offending piece of clothing in her hand. "He knows it isn't mine."

"Are you sure? Maybe you have something similar?" Brick's voice held zero conviction. He didn't even believe that!

"Trust me. I don't." Blossom's temper flared. "And this is about three sizes too big for me." For emphasis, without thinking about it, she held it up to her own chest which definitely would not fit within the mesh travesty.

"I – you – uh –" Brick's eyes flitted between the bra and her face, fighting to stay focused on the latter. Realizing his struggle, she ripped the bra away from the front of her chest, and he visibly relaxed. "So what are you going to do with it?"

"Why return it, of course. Wouldn't want _Olga_ to be missing one of her favorites, right?" Blossom hissed, rising from her seat, sliding over the tabletop, and storming toward the idiot who couldn't differentiate articles of clothing.

She tapped him on the shoulder, rage holding her spine ramrod straight. Dexter turned, and his brow furrowed.

"May I help you with something, Blossom?"

"This isn't mine," she murmured, holding out the bra to him.

"Of course it's yours. Olga said it wasn't hers, so therefore it must be yours." Dexter considered this for a moment. "Unless it's Mariah's…"

Blossom barely heard Brick hiss an intake of breath before she saw red. "You. Are. Such. An. ASSHOLE!" She whipped the bra against his forearm once for each word.

"Ouch! Control yourself! This behavior is absolutely barbaric!" Dexter shouted.

"I'll show you barbaric, you cheating bastard!" Blindly, she swung the bra again and again. A number of her classmates began whooping and whistling though whether it was because they were happy to see Dexter get served justice or Blossom lose her mind was anybody's guess.

A pair of warm arms wrapped around her waist, dragging her away. "Okay, Pinky. Come on. You're taking a mental health day before Dr. Pratt gets here."

She flung the bra at him and wordlessly turned out of Brick's grasp to grab her box of belongings, leaving the empty box behind. Without looking back, Blossom, with her head held high, walked out of the room and all the way back to her apartment with Brick on her heels.

Where she promptly realized the spectacle she had made of herself and locked herself in her apartment with Brick knocking outside, attempting to reassure her. She thanked him for stopping her and insisted he leave. He hung outside the door for only a few minutes until he finally listened to her.

"I'll see you Thursday, okay, Pinky?"

Oh God. They had another class on Thursday! And not to mention they were supposed to go out that night with their siblings and friends. Blossom moaned and buried her face in her hands.

There was no way he would want anything to do with her now. He only said that to be polite.

After all, why would someone like Brick want to spend time with her?

Then, for what felt like the hundredth time in only a few days, Blossom allowed herself to cry. For her wounded pride. For her naivety. And maybe just a little for the kind man she'd undoubtedly lost.

* * *

Blossom bit her lip, avoiding Brick's gaze. "How could you call that justified? I assaulted a man."

"He didn't press charges or some shit, right?"

"No, but it doesn't change the truth."

"The bastard deserved it!"

"Nobody deserves to be treated that way, Brick."

"It was way better than the way he treated you," he countered.

She didn't know what to say to that. He wasn't entirely wrong, but it didn't excuse her behavior. Why was he being so tolerant?

"You're being far too nice about this."

Brick ran his hands through his hair and let out a deep sigh. "I'm not being too anything. Is it so hard to believe that somebody might actually like you enough to want to treat you with respect?"

Her mouth opened and closed. Twice. Before she finally found the voice to say, "You barely know me."

"I know you enough!"

"Brick, you've barely known me for a week. And one of the limited interactions you've had with me led to me being violent! How am I supposed to believe that?"

He tapped his heel and looked away from her. "You'll think it's ridiculous."

"Please help me understand. I feel like I haven't been myself at all this past week, and I don't know how anyone could just take all this in stride."

Another deep sigh. "You know how Believe was picked on a lot in high school?"

That certainly hadn't been what she'd expected to hear next. "Yes, the poor guy. Those kids were awful to him."

"Well, he told us a lot about a group of girls who stuck up to the bullies. Not just for him, exactly, but in general."

Blossom swallowed thickly. She hadn't expected him to know anything about that…

"The way he talked about you and your sisters made you seem…" Brick paused, seemingly searching for the right word. "I don't know. Like something more. Like real life angels of justice. Or, you know…superheroes."

She snorted with a shake of her head. "It wasn't anything as impressive as all of that. Michael gave us far too much credit. We didn't do anything decent people wouldn't do." After considering this for a moment, she corrected herself. "Except Buttercup. Sometimes she would do some unsavory things that most good Samaritans probably wouldn't do."

Brick's eyes sparked at that, and she turned away as she felt her pulse jump under her skin at the smoldering look. Curse him for having this effect on her!

"That. That right there is the reason I know you're worth liking so much." He leaned inward, and his musk invaded her nose, causing Blossom to face him again. Their noses were practically touching, and her skin still buzzed under his gaze. "You're not one to boast about things like this. Other people would play up the whole bit, waxing poetic about how they 'practically saved his life,' but you barely make it seem noteworthy. That makes you a way better person than anyone I've ever known."

Her cheeks burned as she leaned back in his chair. "That's very kind of you to say."

He frowned. "You don't have any idea how much what you girls did meant to him, do you?"

"It didn't stop them." She heard her voice shake, so she tightened her fists. "It didn't stop those cruel people from picking on him. Nothing we did mattered."

"That's where you're wrong. Showing that not all people were like them? That mattered." He began bouncing his heel again. "Let me ask you something. How many people watched?"

"Watched?"

"Yeah. Watched. How many kids in your school simply treated bullying like a spectator sport?"

Thinking about that hurt her heart. Aside from her sisters and Robin from time to time, very few people did anything to stop it. Because bullies like Princess had all the money and the power to destroy them, so they would always rather it be someone else. Anyone else. And they would stand there and be grateful that it wasn't them.

Blossom couldn't live that way. And neither could her sisters.

"Point taken."

"So don't tell me nothing you did mattered. Believe acted like you girls hung the moon. And, I'll be honest, I thought he was full of shit," Brick admitted. "Nobody does that shit in real life. Nobody, especially in high school, is truly that brave."

"What changed your mind?" she asked, still avoiding his gaze.

"I could lie and tell you that it was in the club the other night. The way you put Princess in her place was…well, anything less than awe-inspiring hardly seems to do it justice." Brick grasped her hand gently, which made her gaze meet his once more. "But it happened freshman year. On my way to work, I heard a girl scream. Without thinking about it, I ran toward the sound. By the time I got there, I saw a small blonde girl rushing a sobbing taller blonde out of an alley. I don't think either of them saw me. When I looked where they came from, I saw a girl with dark hair holding some scumbag in a full Nelson while a redhead called the authorities." He grinned sheepishly. "Your eyes kind of give you away, you know. I went to help you, but I heard the sirens coming. I waited to make sure nothing got out of hand, but I couldn't bring myself to interrupt."

"You were there?"

"I know I should have stepped in to help. I almost did, but by the time I got myself to move the cops pushed past me to cuff the bastard." He cleared his throat. "And I got to see the infamous Utonium sisters in action firsthand. I realized then that Believe couldn't make you girls up if he tried."

Blossom pursed her lips. "But we were all there. There's no reason you should like me anymore than you like my sisters."

Brick laughed shakily. "You really don't make it easy on a guy, do you?"

"I'm simply curious."

"Well, if you want the truth, you were the dynamic one."

She blinked in confusion. "What on earth does that mean?"

"Buttercup never stopped being angry. She wanted to rip that guy's esophagus out. Bubbles' heart was on her sleeve the entire time. Her eyes teared up, and she was the shoulder to cry on. But you managed to do both of those things while keeping it professional with the cops. The way you carried yourself kind of blew me away. I'd never seen a girl like you before." He wiped his hands on his pants. "When I told Believe what I saw, he started busting my balls about having a crush on you or some shit. Joke's on me, I guess, since the dickhead wasn't entirely wrong."

"You…but…me?" Blossom's voice remained small as she searched his gaze for deception.

"You're starting to scare me here, Pinky. It was you I was with last night, right? Not some figment of my imagination or something?"

"No, it was me. But you…" She bit her lip as her cheeks burned again. "You seemed so at ease yesterday at the bar. I know I've never been very good about relaxing around people I…well, you know."

A Cheshire grin spread across his face. "Is that why you're so worked up? Got a crush on me now, Pinky?"

She waved him away. "Stop changing the subject! I suppose I thought that last night was a product of mutual attraction."

"Admitting you're attracted to me isn't a bad start," he teased with a wink.

"W-well, by that logic, you're attracted to me too!"

"Yeah, I am. Thank you for joining our conversation. Good to know I've been talking to myself for the past ten minutes."

As much as she would deny it later, Blossom forced back a giggle and a squeal. Here was this hot, funny guy not running out after what easily could have been a one night stand. And he even seemed to genuinely like her! Her heart raced in her chest as the meaning of his words caused her insides to squish pleasantly.

Never again would she doubt her good luck.

Though, if she really thought about it, the night before had been a pretty good indicator of all that Brick said now. Too bad she'd been too nervous for a good portion of the night to fully bask in his attention – without the assistance of a lot of alcohol.

* * *

As the girls approached the club on Thursday night, Blossom considered turning back more than once. After her horrific display on Tuesday, surely her invitation to attend had been rescinded? Brick just didn't want to be rude and exclude her from their group outing.

"Bloss, can you please unclench?" Robin asked. "You don't need to be so nervous!"

"You don't understand, Robin," she groaned. "I was an animal! He should be ashamed to be seen with me."

"If he felt that way, I'm sure he would have said something," Robin insisted.

"To who?"

"To you?"

Blossom couldn't bring herself to admit that she used Buttercup's strategy to her advantage that afternoon. She snuck into one of the back seats in the lecture hall late and ducked out a minute or two early to avoid Brick all together, too embarrassed to face him just yet. Out loud she said, "He…couldn't."

Robin waved a hand dismissively. "That doesn't matter. We're going to have some fun tonight with cute boys, and you're not going to let your overactive brain ruin it!"

"You need to get a drink in you ASAP. Maybe then you'll chill out," Buttercup suggested.

"That's a terrible plan!"

"Well, Blossy, you are quite a pleasant drunk!" Bubbles shot her a warm smile that she knew was probably meant to be reassuring, but it had the opposite of its intended effect.

"By pleasant, you mean flirty," Robin teased. "A couple of drinks in you, and you'll be the best dance partner that boy has ever seen!"

"Only if they're planning to do the horizontal variety of the tango," Buttercup murmured with a snicker.

"Buttercup! I wouldn't do that with someone I don't know!"

"You know his name. What else is there to know?"

"Plenty! What are his goals? His aspirations? His interests?"

"Oh my God, snore! Can you just let your brain take a backseat for tonight? You don't actually have to fuck him, but jeez, it wouldn't kill you to let yourself do some dirty dancing." Buttercup rolled her eyes before turning her attention to Bubbles. "And you should probably not actually fuck your boy-toy on the dance floor."

With a playful slap, Bubbles scowled. "I wouldn't do that, BC! Give me some credit!"

"She'd at least take him to a dark corner of the room!" Robin's giggles ruined her impression of feigned support.

"Whatever, Robin! I think you're the one who's going to get whisked away to do the naughty things anyway. Because what exactly _are_ you planning to do in a loud club if the poor boy can't dance?"

"A good girl doesn't kiss and tell."

"You don't have to tell. We all saw it. We were all there," Buttercup reminded her.

Listening to her best girls tease each other helped ease the tension in Blossom's shoulders. Tonight really wasn't meant for deep conversation, or they would have selected a different venue. So, once again, she would do her best to listen to her closest friends and have fun tonight.

Once they entered the club, Blossom felt her ears be assaulted by a thudding bass once again. However, this time it caused positive butterflies to bounce around in her stomach as they made their way to the bar. Luckily, this bar was within walking distance from their apartment complex, so everybody could have a little something to drink this time around.

As the girls ordered their drinks and waited for Robin's phone to buzz to alert them that the boys had arrived, she felt the excitement for this night out coming back in spades. If Brick chose to hold her rather crass actions against her, she could hardly blame him. And, if he didn't, maybe this would be a good chance for them to see if they simply enjoyed each other's company.

They received their drinks and a message at the same time, so they slinked back over to the entrance, carefully holding on to the belt loop of the girl in front of them to keep from losing each other. When they reached just inside the entrance, the girls hung back, eyes peeled for their male companions.

And when Brick entered, Blossom felt like the breath had been knocked out of her chest. In a V-neck deep burgundy t-shirt that not only emphasized his deep red eyes but that she could attest it left very little to the imagination, the fact that women didn't flock to him upon entrance remained nothing short of a miracle. Her skin tingled at the mere sight of him.

Lord help her if he touched her skin.

His brothers and Mike admittedly looked good also. Butch sported a black tank-top that made his deep green eyes the full focus of attention when anyone glanced his way. Boomer and Mike both wore graphic tees, in blue and gray respectively.

Apparently girls were very much not the only ones aware of how to use colors to play up their best features.

"Hey ladies," Butch said smoothly, eyeing their drinks. "You gettin' the party started without us?"

"One drink better not be your idea of a party, or I'm bailing," Buttercup quipped.

Blossom's eyes widened as she turned her gaze sharply to her sister. How could she be so rude so soon after they arrived?! But, given the matching grins on Buttercup and Butch's faces, she realized that perhaps the two spoke in a code she wasn't meant to understand.

Butch laughed, a deep, rumbling sound as his eyes sparkled with mirth. "Sounds like a challenge. You ready for me to really drink you under the table?"

"You wish, stripper boy. First one to pass out or puke loses." Buttercup smirked, hands on her hips.

"Ew, BC. That's disgusting." Bubbles' nose wrinkled.

"Yeah, no one wants to clean up that mess," Robin agreed, but a slow smile spread across her face. "Besides, who's going to carry Butch home later?"

"Don't encourage her," Blossom murmured, surreptitiously sneaking peeks at Brick when she should have been helping her sister make good decisions. Something Buttercup frequently elected not to do.

"I'm already halfway to the bar, Butchie Boy. You comin' or what?" The dark haired girl tossed over her shoulder as she strutted away.

"Wouldn't miss it, Butterbabe."

Within moments, the two disappeared from line of sight into the deep throng of bodies in the club. For a second, Blossom considered following after them, but a hand on her shoulder halted her thoughts. She looked up to see Brick shake his head once.

"They'll get bored and move on to something else before they get too sloppy," Brick said.

"How can you be so sure? Have you ever seen her drink? She's like a fish!" Bubbles exclaimed.

Brick shrugged. "Butch still has a good hundred pounds on her. And I think your sister would rather change the game than lose, yeah?"

The girls blinked at him in surprise, mouths dropping open in a gape. Robin managed to find her voice first.

"It's like you _know_ her."

He laughed, and Blossom's insides constricted, though not in an unpleasant way. His laughter was rich and warm, and she felt her lips upturn at the sound. "She's not very subtle about it."

"Though she does have the right idea," Boomer mused. "I could go for a drink. What about you guys?"

"Surprise me," Brick replied smoothly.

On the other hand, Mike hesitated. He peered over toward the bar and squinted like he was searching for something. Robin tried to follow his gaze, but her blue eyes couldn't find a place to land. Before she could ask though, Boomer spoke again.

"Come on, Believe. Don't be a bar snob. At least give the tender a chance before you make that face." Boomer smiled with a roll of his eyes aimed at Bubbles who immediately melted into a giggling mess.

"All right…" Mike looked unconvinced but began to walk towards the bar anyway. "Don't worry, Brick. We'll bring back your favorite!"

Boomer snickered as he walked after Mike. "We're doing this to the poor guy already?"

Unfortunately, the two slipped out of earshot before Blossom could catch Mike's response. She gaze flickered over Brick whose face was schooled into a nonchalant expression, minus the fact that she was fairly certain the tips of his ears burned a bright red.

"Typical boys, leaving their dates to get drinks," Robin said with a playful sigh before sipping her Mai Tai. "Looks like you got the nice one, Blossom."

Blossom's face warmed as she waved her friend off. "It's not polite to insinuate that just because you are on a date that we all assume we're on dates."

"Really? Shame on me then. Here I thought I got all dressed up for a date." Brick smirked at her. "But alas – what is that saying about assuming?"

Her mouth gaped, and she rapidly shook her head. "No, you're not - ! I mean, I didn't want – you know, we only just met so why would I think that – but you thought that – so, uhm – I'm sorry?"

Bubbles stifled a giggle. "I'll translate. Blossom would love to call this a date, but she needed to know what you thought first!"

"Bubbles!"

"What? Did I get it wrong?" The not-so-innocent smile the blonde wore told Blossom that she knew very well how correct she was. But that did little to preserve Blossom's pride!

That warm laugh came again. "It's no big deal. Seeing you turn your favorite color is good enough for me, Pinky." A wink.

Part of her wished to be swallowed by the floor, but another part, a very bad part, relished in the shiver that wink sent up her spine. Did it make her a pitiful fool for enjoying the fact that this very attractive man with a wonderful laugh had a nickname for her? Most likely. But who cared? It was such a small thing to take pleasure in.

"And I got shit for _Mikey_ , eh, _Pinky_?"

"I think they're both cute nicknames!" Thank you, Bubbles. So helpful, as always.

Ignoring her, Robin's gaze flicked between the two redheads. "What I'm curious about is when he started calling her that since she didn't look even a little surprised."

Curse Robin and her decision to be observant now of all times! "Brick and I share a physics class. The nickname was Buttercup's suggestion. That's all."

Cocking an eyebrow, Robin turned to Brick. "Is that really all?"

"More or less."

"Buttercup's usually a little more creative with her nicknames."

"Only when it's someone she doesn't like, Robbie. I don't think she'd call Blossom…uhm…what was it? Chowder something?"

There was a momentary flash of realization in Robin's eyes. She knew Dexter shared the same physics class, so she held the power to make this an incredibly awkward semester. "Chode, sweetie. Chodey McChoderson."

Brick choked on his own spit. "What the fuck kind of nickname is that?"

"The kind of nickname you give to a total asshat."

"Yeah! Dexter deserves it! …even if it is gross to think about."

She knew he was looking at her, but she kept her eyes trained on the drink in her hand, mouth clasped tightly around the straw. No reason for her to participate in this conversation. Nope. None whatsoever!

"He's definitely an asshat, I'll give you that. Though I can't say I want to know if the nickname is accurate or not."

"Me either!" Bubbles agreed heartily.

Fortunately, Boomer and Mike returned with drinks in hand, effectively ending that conversation. Mike held a dark colored drink that he kept sipping skeptically. Boomer held a beer in one hand and…was that a mojito?

"For you, Brick." Boomer held out the minty drink towards his eldest brother, and Blossom bit her lip to hide her smile. Somehow the choice of drink made him even more likable.

He took the drink and sipped it, the tips of his ears still red. "Whatever. It's delicious."

' _I'll bet it is.'_ Blossom immediately blushed as she found her gaze caught on his lips, wondering exactly how minty they would taste. She downed half of her own drink to avoid letting her thoughts become words.

"Did you guys see Buttercup and Butch at the bar?" Bubbles inquired. "They're both still standing, right?"

Boomer grinned. "Yeah, for now."

"They bought an entire tray of shots and are going shot for shot," Mike said, shaking his head. "How anyone can drink that much straight tequila is beyond me."

"Tequila is only good if it's in a margarita." Robin sipped her Mai Tai thoughtfully. "But don't tell BC I said that."

Bubbles giggled. "Because then we'll all get roped into doing shots with them."

Mike scanned the area. "Do you think it's even possible to find a free table in this place?"

"It doesn't hurt to try." Boomer smiled before offering his arm to Bubbles. "Shall we?"

She slipped her arm into his with a large smile of our own. "Of course!"

Blossom smiled softly at how excitable her sister was. It was never a surprise to see how many people found her positivity infectious, and Boomer seemed to be becoming quickly enamored with it as well. She followed slowly behind the pair, Brick falling into step beside her.

"He's laying it on pretty thick, huh?"

She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. "I wouldn't really know, I suppose."

Brick snorted. "Trust me. He's peacocking. A lot."

"I'll take your word for it." Blossom watched Bubbles lean more of her weight into Boomer's arm so she could whisper in his ear. Then he tilted his head back and laughed, the sound swallowed by the thumping base of the music. "But perhaps that's not such a bad thing?"

Before he could respond, Bubbles waved them excitedly over to a big booth that miraculously remained unoccupied. The group slid into the booth, Blossom between her sister and Brick. She became very aware of how close his leg was to hers. His body heat rolled off him in waves and despite the oppressive warmth of the club already, she found herself wanting to get closer and wrap herself in it.

Instead, she finished off her drink.

"Blossy, you're empty already?" Bubbles scanned the table. "Darn it! This place doesn't have those nifty little ordery things. I think you'll have to go all the way back over to the bar to get another one."

Blossom barely heard her own reply of , "I'm fine" as it intertwined with the response of, "I can go get you one."

Turning to Brick, she raised an eyebrow. "Really, you don't have to do that. I'll go back over in a little bit. Besides, you just got your own drink, so I'd hate –"

In one swig, Brick downed the rest of his own drink and sent a grin her way that made her thighs clench together. "Well it looks like I need another one now, doesn't it? I'll be right back. Strawberry daiquiri, right?"

She nodded and kept nodding long after his back had turned. To make matters worse, she already couldn't wait for him to be back.

And Blossom wished she was certain it was because of the delicious beverage he'd be returning with.

"So what do you boys major in?" Bubbles asked, ever the extrovert.

"Music Education," Mike replied easily.

Robin beamed. "He wants to help other kids find a safe haven in high school."

The "isn't that sweet?" was perfectly evident in her tone.

"That's wonderful!" Bubbles exclaimed. "You were so good!"

"Th-thanks, I guess. I wasn't really that good."

"I would have thought placing first in states for your instrument would be considered quite good," Blossom said with a raised eyebrow.

"Shit, really?" Boomer looked like this was new information to him. "How come you never told us that?!"

Mike cleared his throat. "It-it's really not a big deal. I spent a lot of time practicing, so it would have been pretty sad if I couldn't at least do that."

Now Robin's face settled into a frown instead. "You should be proud, you know. A lot of kids work hard for that, but you were the best in the state! How can you not know how good you are?"

"Robin –"

"You know what? I also bet you're a way better dancer than you give yourself credit for too! If this is how modest you are about playing the trombone, I'm sure you're just being modest about this too." Being on the outside of the booth, Robin easily grabbed his hand as she slid out. "Come dance with me."

"But I'm really awful!"

"Well I'm certain you're just selling yourself short." Robin's eyes softened. "Please?"

And just like that, with a slight groan, Mike was out of the booth following his pretty brunette date.

"They're so cute," Bubbles said with a sigh and a smile. She watched the brunettes for only a moment more before turning her attention to Boomer. "What about you? You never mentioned what your major is."

"Oh, well I'm actually dual-majoring in Music Performance and Business," Boomer replied with a wry smile.

"That's quite the combination." Blossom looked at his slightly sullen expression and knew there was more to the story but remained quiet.

Unfortunately, Bubbles was prone to ignoring social cues like that one. "What made you pick those?"

Boomer smiled at her, but it didn't quite reach his eyes this time. "I love music, but my dad always insisted I also go for something 'practical.' So…" He shrugged, breaking eye contact and looking at his beer. "Yeah. If I could, I would just be doing music."

"What do you play?" Whether Bubbles was successfully trying to get him to talk about something he was passionate about or failing miserably at comforting the boy, Blossom remained uncertain.

But the way his eyes lit up a moment later answered her question. "I've dabbled in a couple things, but the piano is my favorite."

"I'd love to hear you play sometime." Bubbles beamed at him. "Can I?"

"Absolutely." He grinned back at her.

With the two of them lost in their own little world, Blossom wished, once again, that Brick was back already. She felt like the embodiment of a third wheel, so she searched the portions of the room that were visible for Robin and Mike or Buttercup who had been gone for close to a half hour at this point and really needed to be reminded to drink some water so as not to get sick and –

Then a new, techno beat started, and the gasp from Bubbles practically made Blossom jump out of her skin. She turned to see Bubbles bouncing in her seat.

"I love this song!"

Boomer slid out of the booth and held out his hand. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go dance!"

Bubbles grasped his hand but before they left, she turned to Blossom. "Do you want me to wait with you until Brick comes back? I don't mind."

What a polite lie to tell. However, Blossom would not allow her sister to miss out on a moment of the night. "I'll be all right. You go have fun!"

"Are you sure, Blossy?"

"Boomer, kindly go take my sister onto the dance floor, please?"

With a laugh, he pulled her away. "I'd be happy to."

Blossom watched with a small smile as her sister bounced happily to the beat while staying where the table could be in her direct line of sight. Sometimes her baby sister liked to pretend she was subtle.

Then another movement caught her attention, and she looked toward it only to find that Michael had not been lying.

The boy certainly could not dance.

For all his talent as a musician and his ability to understand rhythm, his body clearly refused to follow instructions. Luckily, Robin helped him refrain from injuring others around him by grabbing his flailing hands and jumping with him, trying to guide him to the beat of the music. His brow furrowed in frustration, but Robin gave him an encouraging smile that eased his tension.

"Wow. He either wasn't kidding, or he's an evil genius."

Her gaze immediately snapped to the brim of the red snapback that was only inches away from her as Brick faced away from her to look at the couple in question. She looked on the table to see her drink in front of her and gratefully took a sip while processing his words.

"Evil genius?"

"Maybe he just wants her to help teach him so that he has an excuse to get close to her."

As the redheads watched the brunettes attempt to dance for a few more minutes, Blossom couldn't help but let out a giggle. She chose not to correlate it to her current company.

"Well, if that's the case, he should be a theatre major, not music education."

Brick laughed. "Yeah, I don't know that anyone could fake being that bad."

"Robin seems to find it pretty endearing." Her friend's wide smile showed just how much the girl was enjoying herself.

"He's lucky then. Most women seem to have some keener interest in a guy who can dance." Brick's gaze found hers, a wicked smile on his face. "What about you, Pinky? What's your preference?"

Of course her traitorous mind flashed back to Brick's performance at the club the week prior. The way he rolled his hips and flexed his muscles caused a reaction in her that was definitely not appropriate to say out loud. So, after a pointed sip of her drink, she simply replied, "Dancing is a plus, I suppose, but certainly not a deal breaker."

His smile remained as he looked at her, his red gaze boring into hers. "Good to know."

She went to retort, but instead sipped her drink to wash back whatever offer for him to show her how much of a plus dancing well could be that almost slipped out. Time for a change of subject. "So, Brick, what are you studying in school?"

If he noticed the abrupt question, he didn't comment, electing to simply answer her question. "Pre-med for now. Eventually looking to become an oncologist."

Blossom's eyes widened. Quite an unconventional choice. "What makes you want to pursue that study of medicine?"

His smile faltered slightly, but he replied, "Recompense, I guess." He took a sip of his drinks as his eyes took on a faraway look. She almost reached out to touch him, offer some sort of comfort, but the weight behind his answer made her stop. "The doc who looked after my old man was a pretty great guy. There's an art to breaking that kind of news, good or bad, you know?"

She nodded, unsure of what to say.

"I want to be that for people," he said so softly Blossom almost didn't catch it at first. "He took our reactions in stride and did everything in his power to make it easier for us. It was hard to appreciate at the time, but he was a great doctor. If I could be half the support he was for even one family going through something like that…I can't think of anything that would be more fulfilling to do."

Her throat tightened. How could she even respond to that? It was a much more personal answer than she had been prepared for.

He saved her the trouble by sending a small smile her way. "Sorry. So what are you going to school for?"

There was no reason to apologize! How could he apologize for something like that? "No apologies necessary. I think that's an admirable reason to go into that line of work. Your father would be proud of you, I'm sure." Somewhere in the back of her mind, she realized that this was probably not a normal conversation for what amounted to a first date. But she preferred the in depth approach that even their small talk managed to take on. And his openness warmed her heart. "I'm pre-law."

The nodding of his head indicated that he anticipated that answer. "Yeah? Why is that?"

Again – why did it feel like he was asking a question he knew the answer to? She sipped her drink again before formulating her answer. "I've seen too many guilty people go without punishment. I want to help put a stop to that. I'd eventually like to become a Supreme Court Justice. Help make a real difference, you know?"

She met his gaze again, and the warmth of his gaze startled her. If she thought his dancing had been dangerous, him looking at her like this was that tenfold. Blossom held his gaze as he smiled at her.

"I think that's pretty admirable too."

Blossom's cheeks burned at the comment. "So when did you start dancing?"

"About ten years ago? Give or take." He chuckled. "It feels like it's been forever now."

"What made you guys decide to start?"

"Well, Boomer was the one who thought taking hip-hop would be a good idea, but he didn't want to take it alone, so…here we are."

"You should probably thank him. After all, weren't you the one who said women prefer a man who can dance?"

"Touché, Pinky." There was that wicked grin again that did weird things to her insides. "But I mean, look over there. Am I totally off-base?"

Blossom followed his gaze to where Bubbles and Boomer were dancing. A huge smile graced her sister's face, and Boomer wore one to match. Though their dancing seemed to range from jumping around to being wholly inappropriate for them to be watching, the fun the pair was having could not be denied.

She glanced around to find Robin and Mike mysteriously missing from her line of sight. "I suppose not as our less dancing inclined friend appears to have vanished from the dance floor all together."

Brick raised an eyebrow at her before scanning the crowd as well. "Told you – evil genius."

"Oh, I doubt very highly that it was his suggestion."

He snorted. "Fair. Though his protesting to the opportunity of kissing that friend of yours was likely minimal at best. He's done nothing but talk about her all week."

"Glad to know we weren't the only ones hearing about it."

"Not in the least. We were late because he remained convinced that his cowlick was sticking up."

"He has a cowlick?"

"Exactly."

She chuckled. "Isn't it amazing the lengths we go to in order to impress other people?"

"You're not kidding."

"But I suppose as long as it's genuine that it's a sweet gesture."

"What do you mean?"

Biting her lip, Blossom considered what she was about to say very carefully. "I mean there is a difference between wanting to look good to impress someone on a first date and embellishing your entire life when talking about it. Only one of those has pure intentions."

"I guess that depends on your definition of the word pure." A teasing grin crossed his lips this time.

She swatted at his shoulder, covering her eyes. "Please don't put that mental image in my head!"

"I didn't say anything."

"You implied it!"

"Says you. Maybe you just have a dirty mind, Pinky."

The wink he sent her certainly made her believe that she might. Her face flamed, and she went to sip her drink again only to realize it was empty. Goodness, she was drinking these awfully fast…

"Should we just move over to the bar?" Brick teased, nursing his half-full drink.

Blossom almost shook her head but reconsidered. It would certainly be easier than having to walk back and forth all night. Though maybe she shouldn't. Her nerves were getting the best of her tonight, and if she kept drinking every time she got a little nervous, she'd be drunk within the first hour.

So she looked at him for a moment. She found herself enjoying his company more than she had the right to and selfishly didn't want to have to keep cutting off their conversation. Thus, she said, "Would you mind?"

His eyes widened before he shrugged. "Not at all."

The two of them squeezed through the crowd back toward the bar, hoping that the more people went out to the dance floor the more room there would be at the bar. Fortunately, there were two seats on the corner that they slid onto easily. Once Blossom got herself another drink, the two continued to talk, discovering a mutual love of Faulkner and a mutual loathing for bluegrass music.

Aside from ordering more drinks, there was only one moment where the conversation turned to anything other than each other. Brick followed the gaze of the bartender who seemed confused by something behind them, and when he found it, he let out a sigh.

"Is everything going to be a competition with those two?"

She cocked an eyebrow before turning to see exactly what he was looking at. As soon as she did, Blossom groaned. "I swear I don't know her…"

"I mean, she's keeping up with that idiot, so more power to her."

There, in the middle of the dance floor, surrounded by people grinding or using the dance floor as their make-out venue of choice, were Butch and Buttercup dancing _at_ each other. None of their body parts were touching, but there was undeniable eye contact amidst their determined expressions. It was almost like the two of them were performing for each other, and there was something about it that made Blossom distinctly more uncomfortable than all of the grinding couples put together.

It seemed more intimate somehow. And that alone made her turn back to her drink.

"I certainly hope she had some water after those shots. Otherwise, this is only the beginning." Blossom sipped her own drink, ignoring the fact that she couldn't remember the last water she'd had herself. It would have been recently. She wasn't the type to just let that type of thing slide, of course!

Unfortunately, it seemed that her sister had not followed the basic rule of remembering to drink water along with her alcohol.

Buttercup always had a penchant for dancing provocatively even when she was sober; Blossom fully admitted her sister was far better at it than any person had the right to be. But throw alcohol and a good base beat into the mix? Well…

Bless any man who tried to reign her in after that.

Brick choked on his drink when the song changed. Blossom didn't even have to look to know what happened; she offered him a wry smile.

"Starting to wish you'd asked a different Utonium sister to be your date?"

His gaze found hers, eyes wide. "Uh, no. Absolutely not. No offense, but your sister is more than a little terrifying."

"Your poor brother doesn't stand a chance."

"No…not likely."

Unable to resist the urge to catch a look at Butch' face, Blossom swiveled in her stool, easily finding them the second time. Her eyes skipped over her sister who had garnered quite a bit of attention in her ability to shake her hips. The redhead smiled; sometimes men really were too easy.

Though nothing beat the wide-eyed gape that adorned Butch's face. The look of determination had slid off his face as his eyes danced all over, unable to pick a place to land.

Blossom chuckled. "You'd think in your line of work he'd be immune to something like this."

"Doing and seeing are not the same," Brick murmured, his back to the whole situation now. "You sure she doesn't do this professionally?"

"You better not let her hear you say that. She'll think her secret's out."

He turned to her, and this time she gave him a wink instead. The tips of his ears turned that delightful shade of red again, and a giggle escaped her lips this time.

"I'm just teasing."

Brick muttered something to himself that she didn't quite catch, but he shot her a smile. "You got me, Pinky. I would have believed you."

"What can I say? It's the lawyer in me." She grinned at him.

He seemed caught off-guard by her Cheshire grin and simply stared at her for a moment before swallowing thickly. Then he took a long sip of his drink, and her stomach flipped.

Perhaps she wasn't the only one being affected, hm?

In a move far bolder than she ever would have expected for herself, she placed a hand on his knee and leaned toward him.

The poor boy almost dropped his glass.

"So where are you applying for your Masters? Or are you going straight PhD?"

He blinked a few times to bring himself back into focus, croaking out, "I'm sorry, what?"

Reassured that the attraction was not entirely in her head nor one-sided, Blossom removed her hand and repeated the question. With the contact broken, Brick seemed to find his voice again, and the two continued to talk about things like their aspirations and goals. It should have seemed wrong to do this both on a first "date" and on a first date in a club no less, but she couldn't remember something ever feeling so natural to her before.

The conversation and drinks continued, and the more they did, the more she found herself enjoying his company. In a way she'd never really enjoyed another person's company before. She began talking about things she didn't normally share on first dates, inclusive of usually taboo topics like her sex life and dating history.

Beyond that, and potentially because of it, she became more and more physically aware of him. To avoid completely having to shout above the music, Blossom often found their faces to be mere inches apart, and their legs had brushed more than once, and it all felt like so much when it was so little, and she just kept drinking to push down her desire to pull away, receding back into herself. Or worse, push herself closer in an unwelcomed way.

Not tonight. Tonight she'd ride that fine line between doing what she should and doing what she wanted. Just to see where she ended up.

However, her musings caused her to miss Brick asking her a question.

With a blush, she leaned closer and asked him to repeat it.

"Wanna dance?" The beat of the music slowed into something much more seductive, and Blossom felt her pulse thrum in her veins at the suggestion. Every part of her body screamed the affirmative as her mind considered just how dangerous it could be to do so.

But her mind acted independently and slid off the stool after draining her drink, stumbling only slightly. She smirked at him. "I thought you'd never ask."

He followed her onto the dance floor, and she noted that her siblings were almost on the other side of the room and Robin had reappeared at the table they'd previously occupied practically sitting in Mike's lap. As long her girls were safe, she'd allow herself to fully enjoy seeing Brick dance up close.

The rhythm seemed to settle into her hips naturally enough, but Blossom couldn't deny that she was far more interested in the way Brick's body moved. His body rolled out here so similarly to how it did onstage that she swore she could see the ripples in his muscles through his clothes, and she itched to touch them.

To keep from touching him, she occupied her hands with other tasks. Tucking her hair behind her hair. Snapping to the beat of the song. Just moving in any way that made her keep her hands to herself.

Then, after a few strands of her long red hair fell into her face, Brick reached over and tucked them behind her ear before she had the chance to, and she realized how close they'd become. One of his legs found its way between hers, and her chest was almost flush against his. She felt his body heat enveloping her again and basked in the comfort of it just as she had earlier in the night.

Her eyes met his, and the look in his eyes pierced right through her and sent desire shooting to every place their bodies touched. The more their bodies rolled together to the music, the more it wasn't enough. His hands found her hips and sent tingles dancing across her skin. She placed her hands on his chest and felt the muscles flex beneath them and heard herself gasp appreciatively.

But it wasn't enough. For the first time in her life, Blossom needed more. The desire overcame her other senses, and she wanted to drown in it.

She pressed her lips to his neck, and his body jolted beneath her. As she peppered the skin with open mouthed kisses, she heard him groan her name.

And oh, did she enjoy that more than she should.

Spurred on by his encouragement, Blossom teased the flesh of his neck between her teeth; his grip on her hips became steel. Since he didn't immediately pull her closer, she pushed herself up to be flush against him before kissing up his neck to his ear and sucking the lobe into her mouth.

He stumbled and let out a shaky, "Fuck."

Blossom never thought herself to be a fan of dirty talk, but hearing the foul word slip out in that husky tone definitely made her reconsider.

Before she could continue her ministrations, she found herself a foot away from him with his hands on her shoulders, wearing a pained expression.

"What's wrong?" she slurred out, scanning his face. "Did I hurt you?"

"No," he said, voice shaking. "But I think I should probably take you home."

Blossom pouted. "You didn't like it?"

Brick shook his head with a laugh. "No, that's not it. I liked it more than I should, and I'm sure you don't want to do this here."

She flushed at the implication. Considering, she nodded. "Okay. Yeah, please take me home."

Hee hee. The tips of his ears turned red again. So maybe he wanted to come home with her! Naughty boy!

Blossom fished her phone out of her pocket and shot a quick text to let the girls know she was leaving and not to worry because Brick was walking her home. Once sent, the two weaved through the crowd, her hand in his, the pleasant tingling feelings still running all over.

Thankfully her apartment wasn't far since the two of them stumbled most of the way there. Brick kept glancing over at her, and she knew that probably wasn't helping him keep his footing, but he just looked so cute! And it was so nice that he wanted to make sure she got home safely. He was such a good guy. She also couldn't remember the last time she'd had so much fun!

When they reached her door, she slipped in the keys and opened it, stumbling slightly since most of her weight had been pressed into the doorknob. Blossom turned back and saw Brick standing in the doorway. She frowned.

"Aren't you going to come in?"

He shook his head.

"Why not?"

"Because you're drunk."

"So are you."

"I know. That's why I'm not coming in."

Her brow furrowed. "I don't understand. Don't you want to come in?"

There it was. That pained expression again. "Of course I do."

"So why don't you?"

"Because I really like you, Blossom."

She smiled and felt a giggle sneak out. "I really like you too, silly. That's why I want you to come in."

"Are you sure?"

Blossom reached out and grabbed his hand, pulling him into her apartment. "Yeah. I had fun with you tonight! I want to keep having fun with you."

With that, she pulled his lips crashing into hers. He tasted like mint and rum, and it was delicious. His arms wrapped around her, and she clumsily guided them back to her couch before hooking her fingers around the hem of his shirt. Her hands skimmed his abdomen, and he backed away for a moment to remove the shirt before chucking it across the room and finding her lips again, sending scorching heat in waves over her body.

She remembered tracing every crevice of his abs before stepping away from him and going towards her bedroom. Once she was in the doorway, she removed her own shirt, shooting a devilish grin at him over her shoulder. The shirt she'd worn had once again required her to go braless and as she tucked her hair over her shoulder, allowing Brick to see her exposed back and seeing his jaw drop made the risky decision seem entirely worth it.

Blossom sprawled out on her bed, and Brick had joined her. Everything after that became spotty in terms of her recollection.

But one thing was certain: everything she managed to remember, she absolutely enjoyed.

* * *

"So what now?"

Brick's voice broke her out of her reverie, and Blossom met his gaze. He smiled softly at her, but the way he kept shifting showed that he wasn't completely nerve-free either.

"What do you mean?" Blossom asked carefully.

"Well," he started, breaking eye contact, "do I get to see you again? You never really answered me before."

She weighed her options. On the one hand, she absolutely wanted to see him again. She had a great time with him and even if she didn't remember everything, she knew that they were the choices her sober self wanted to make anyway. There was also the reassurance that he hadn't forced anything with her; if anything, she was the one who should feel guilty for being so pushy.

On the other hand, Blossom didn't want him to think that she felt obligated to see him again because of their previous intimacies. Nor did she want him to think he was a rebound. He was right; on paper, it probably would seem way too soon to be dating again.

But she wanted to try. With him.

"I would like that very much," she murmured, cheeks tinting pink. "If you'd be interested, of course."

His eyes widened, and his mouth twisted into a small, disbelieving smile. "Wait – seriously?"

Blossom couldn't help but laugh. "Yes, seriously. Why would I say it if I didn't mean it?"

"I just, you know…you seemed really hesitant, so I thought you were going to try to let me down easy."

"No, I...I'd really enjoy going out with you again."

"A date to a place where I can fully hear you would probably be a good place to start," he said with a smile. "So when works for you, Pinky?"

There was that nickname again. She thought for a moment. "Well evenings are usually out for you because of work, right?"

"Typically, yeah."

"And the Morebucks aren't likely to give you the night off just because you request it."

Brick grimaced. "Probably not."

"So how about lunch? Tomorrow?" Realizing how desperate that might make her sound, trying to plan the date so soon, she quickly added, "If that works for you! Or you know, next week is fine too. Or…whenever."

He chuckled and stood from his place at the table. "Tomorrow sounds great, Pinky." He walked over to the sink and washed out his mug before placing it in the well of the sink. "But I really should head out and try to catch a few more hours of sleep before work tonight."

She nodded. "Right, of course."

As Brick disappeared into her room again, her heart thundered in her chest and a smile crawled across her face. Blossom allowed a small squeal to escape as she washed both mugs fully and put them on the drying rack, trying to refrain from watching him change through her cracked doorway.

Reappearing moments later in his clothes from last night, Brick approached her at the sink. "I had a good time last night, Blossom."

"Me too."

"So, lunch tomorrow?"

"That sounds perfect," she said softly.

He leaned and kissed her check before walking across the room to the door. "Tomorrow then."

"Yes. Tomorrow."

And as he shut the door behind him and the biggest, brightest smile she'd ever remembered wearing threatened to split her face in two, after the crazy week she'd had, "tomorrow" just sounded so full of possibilities. And she couldn't wait to see what it had in store for her.

And for Brick. Blossom hoped he'd be around for awhile too.

* * *

 **And that is it! Thank you so much for taking the time to read my little story! I'd love to hear what you thought if you have the time to let me know. :)**

 **Love and Rockets,**

 **Stranique**


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